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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27064522">I See No Difference</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maschl/pseuds/maschl'>maschl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, F/M, Harmony against the world, Romance, Running Away, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:47:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>58,795</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27064522</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maschl/pseuds/maschl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With Professor Snape's hateful and cruel words towards her, Hermione's trust in authority figures comes crashing down for good. She begins to question the adults' response to Harry's forced entry into the Triwizard Tournament and concludes that it's up to her to keep him safe. And if they have to leave the country to escape the madness that is Hogwarts and Magical Britain, so be it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>243</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>599</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Stone to Start the Avalanche</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All right, so I'm back with a new story. I'm somewhat curious myself at how my first attempt at not writing crack will turn out. As such, any kind of feedback is very much appreciated.</p><p>Hermione will be the main POV character, and she and Harry will run away from Hogwarts soon into the story.</p><p>I will be doing some world building, but I'll try to stay canon-compliant overall. While I try to avoid character bashing, I won't ignore all the stuff that happens in the books either (which is too bad for pretty much ALL adult characters). Still, I won't make anyone artificially worse than how they are shown in canon. So, there will be no Evil or over-the-top Manipulative!Dumbledore. But, well, you know what they say about good intentions...</p><p>Hermione and Harry will receive very little help overall. There will be no billion-Galleon-inheritance, no rich godfather to take the kids in on an unplottable private island, no Dobby-ex-machina, not even super understanding and helpful Granger parents. There'll only be two teens, alone against the world, armed with nothing but their magic and their ingenuity. How will they fare? Over the next 180k words or so, we may find out.</p><p>The story starts during Chapter Eighteen of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER ONE -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>The Stone to Start the Avalanche</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Hermione's steps echoed loudly in the empty hallways of Hogwarts as she ran towards the Hospital Wing. The only other sounds to be heard were her sobs, which she had been unable to suppress ever since she had taken flight from the Potions corridor.</p><p>Even though there were no other people around, she tried to shield her mouth and chin with her hands, causing her to run rather awkwardly. Her two front teeth that had been hexed by Malfoy were grotesquely protruding from her mouth, reaching almost below her chin. To add injury to insult, the enlarged teeth also caused excruciating pain in her upper jaw.</p><p>It wasn't the pain that had her in tears, though. At least, not for the most part. No, the reason for her tears was Professor Snape's reaction to her predicament.</p><p><em>I see no difference</em>.</p><p>That was what the man had said when he had looked at her, when she had been in pain and obvious need of medical assistance.</p><p>She had been hit with the Densaugeo Hex by Malfoy when the Slytherin and Harry had exchanged spells in the dungeons in front of the Potions classroom.</p><p>Malfoy had done his best to needle a reaction out of Harry, with his stupid badges proclaiming Cedric Diggory as the Hogwarts Champion of the Triwizard Tournament and insulting Harry, and he had succeeded. With all the pressure of being an involuntary participant in the Triwizard Tournament, Hermione supposed that it wasn't very surprising that Harry had finally snapped. She had been caught in the crossfire when the boys' spells had collided, deflecting Malfoy's Teeth Enlargement Hex towards her.</p><p>With some bad luck, the spell had hit her right in her face, and her front teeth had started to grow rapidly.</p><p>It had hurt badly, and she had been utterly humiliated by her disfigurement, and this would have been bad enough.</p><p>But then, Professor Snape had arrived on the scene. Accusations had been exchanged. And the Professor had looked at her with his usual sneer.</p><p>
  <em>I see no difference.</em>
</p><p>That had been when she had no longer been able to hold back her tears and had started to run.</p><p>The laughter of the Slytherins as her teeth had grown to grotesque proportions was still ringing in her ears. So were the raised voices of Harry and Ron as they had shouted at Snape. She hoped the boys hadn't done anything stupid on her behalf and wouldn't get into too much trouble for whatever they had said.</p><p>Soon, Hermione was out of breath and had to slow down slightly. By now, she was on the first floor but still had to make it to the other side of the castle to get to the Hospital Wing.</p><p>While she ran along, she berated herself for tearing up like a little girl because someone had said a mean thing to her.</p><p>
  <em>I see no difference.</em>
</p><p>No, that wasn't fair to herself, either.</p><p>Some of her tears were definitely due to the pain in her jaw. And in either case, the reason for her distress was not the words, but who had said them.</p><p>Sure, the words had been hurtful, especially as they very much resembled the taunts of her bullies back in primary school.</p><p>But if Malfoy or some other Slytherin had insulted her, she would have easily kept her calm. It hadn't been Malfoy or another Slytherin, though. It hadn't been a student. But a professor! A professor, a figure of authority, had joined in with the bullies.</p><p>Of course, she had always known that Snape was anything but a good teacher. He had always been an unpleasant person. His awarding of points to Slytherin and his points deductions from the other Houses had always been biased.</p><p>But bias towards their own House was something the other Heads of House were also guilty of. They weren't as blatant and obvious as Snape, but at least that had mostly been a mere difference in degree.</p><p>Whenever Professor Snape was berating Harry, Ron, or Neville during class, it was usually because they had made a mistake or had been inattentive. Even when the Professor had asked Harry all those difficult questions in their very first Potions lesson three years ago, he had only done his job. Kind of. Teachers were supposed to ask questions, weren't they? That's what she had told herself, at least.</p><p>Snape being unfair and spiteful certainly wasn't newsworthy.</p><p>But this was different.</p><p>
  <em>I see no difference.</em>
</p><p>She had only been an innocent bystander, had been hurt, had been visibly in pain, and the teacher's response had been to mock her appearances!</p><p>For a professor to be a bully was simply inexcusable.</p><p>All her life, it had been the adults that had protected her against the cruelty of her peers. When her classmates in primary school had made fun of her for her enthusiasm for reading and learning, or when they had lashed out against her for showing them up in class, it had always been her teachers that had stepped in and had stopped the bullying. At least for a while.</p><p>The teachers were the ones to protect her. The rules and the teachers. The rules and the teachers were the only ones to never betray her, as all of her peers invariably and inevitably would.</p><p>As a result, she had developed an unwavering, steadfast trust in people in authority. After all, if you couldn't trust the people in charge, how could you trust anyone? And you needed to trust <em>someone</em>, right?</p><p>She had been so stupid!</p><p>To her, this trust now much more resembled an irrational and misplaced blind faith. No, not all the teachers at Hogwarts were deserving of the kind of deference she had been showing them. Respect had to be earned, and a bully like Snape didn't deserve any. That much was clear to her now, but it should have been clear to her a long time ago.</p><p>She was angry with herself. Why was it just now when the abuse was directed at her that she saw things for how they really were?</p><p>Why hadn't she seen it before?</p><p>Why had she always seen the isolated incidents, but never the pattern behind them? Why had she never realised what an utterly vile person Snape really was, that he really shouldn't be allowed to be anywhere close to children, never mind being a teacher for a core subject in Magical Britain's only school?</p><p>Whenever Snape spoke ill of Harry during class or deducted points for petty reasons, she had always told herself that the Professor might be unfair, but that he was still acting within his rights as a teacher, and so his behaviour couldn't really be considered all that bad.</p><p>
  <em>Stupid, stupid, stupid!</em>
</p><p>What had she been thinking? Insisting that Harry called this vile man by his title, a title he was totally undeserving of! Snape's treatment of Harry had always been unprofessional, bordering on abusive.</p><p>And she had refused to see it. She should have helped Harry to fight Snape's abuse starting with their very first Potions lesson, but she had failed her best friend. The first thing she would do when she saw him would be to apologise to Harry for not supporting him against Snape. She only hoped that Harry would accept her apology.</p><p>Hermione slowed down her pace further when she finally reached the corridor leading to the infirmary. By now, she was panting heavily and she felt a stitch in her sides. But at least she hadn't encountered any students along the way. No other people had seen her disfigurement.</p><p>She was no longer sobbing or crying, but some tears were still flowing down her cheeks. Though by now, that was mostly because of the pain. Her jaw was really killing her.</p><p>She approached the doors to the Hospital Wing and opened them, stepping inside the infirmary.</p><p>As she entered, Madam Pomfrey peeked out of her office on the other side of the room. The school nurse only had to take one look at Hermione before her wand appeared in her hand and she came rushing forward.</p><p>"Oh, dear, let me take a look at this," the woman said and waved her wand before Hermione's face.</p><p>"Hgn thehh-" Hermione began, trying to explain what had happened, but she realised that with her teeth protruding from her mouth, she was completely unintelligible.</p><p>"Now, never worry about that, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said. "No need to explain anything..."</p><p>The nurse waved her wand again and huffed.</p><p>"Densaugeo Hex?" she asked.</p><p>Hermione only nodded in response.</p><p>"All right, we'll have this fixed in a jiffy," the school nurse said reassuringly and aimed her wand at Hermione's face.</p><p>Hermione looked with both hope and apprehension at the glowing tip of the witch's wand that hovered mere inches in front of her nose before Madam Pomfrey cast her spell.</p><p>"<em>Reducio Dentientes</em>!"</p><p>Hermione immediately felt how the pressure in her jaw subsided, and soon her pain was gone and she was able to breathe more freely. When Madam Pomfrey lowered her wand, Hermione moved her tongue over her teeth and could feel that her two front teeth were still twice as long as before. She was about to ask why the nurse hadn't shrunken her teeth back to their original size, when Madam Pomfrey began to speak again.</p><p>"Now that we have fixed the worst of it, I'll need your help with the details. Unfortunately, I can't just revert your teeth to how they were before. Unlike with living tissue, teeth can easily be altered magically in a lasting fashion. So, I need you to tell me when your teeth look the way they did before, while I apply the Shrinking Charm again. Can you do that?"</p><p>"Yesh, Madam Pomshreh," Hermione answered, still unable to speak clearly, and the school nurse conjured a small hand mirror, handing it to her patient.</p><p>Hermione winced as she looked at her reflection, which showed her still abnormally large front teeth. She really looked like a caricature of herself.</p><p>But only a moment later, the nurse spoke her incantation, and Hermione's teeth began to slowly decrease in length.</p><p>As she observed the changes, Hermione realised that this might be an opportunity to have Madam Pomfrey change her teeth not only back to their previous form, but to finally get her teeth more evenly shaped.</p><p>Her slightly larger front teeth had always been an issue for her self-image, mostly because they had been a common point of ridicule for her bullies in primary school, and occasionally at Hogwarts, too. Innumerable times, she had been called 'buck-tooth', 'beaver-face', or one of countless other unflattering names. As a result, she had always felt extremely self-conscious about her front teeth, even when the unevenness of her teeth became less pronounced as she grew older.</p><p>She had of course known for a long time that her teeth could easily be fixed with magic. But when she had told this to her parents after her first year at Hogwarts, they had been much less enthusiastic about the prospect than her. Quite to the contrary, actually. Sternly, they had told her that as a daughter of two dentists, she would have her teeth fixed with real and honest dentistry and orthodontic work, not with some unnatural magic tricks. Just this summer, her parents had told her that they might look into getting her braces the next year.</p><p>Hermione felt a surge of anger at the memory of her parents' close-mindedness and decided that she really couldn't care less about their instructions. She would allow Madam Pomfrey to do what she should have asked of her a long time ago.</p><p>She watched on as her teeth shrank and kept silent even when they reached their previous size. Only when her upper teeth were perfectly even, she nodded and Madam Pomfrey ended her spell.</p><p>"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said earnestly and looked into the mirror once more. She smiled, and as she saw her 'new' smile in the mirror, her smile widened even further. As she laid the mirror aside, Hermione thought that Madam Pomfrey had done a truly great job.</p><p>Her parents wouldn't be happy with her, but Hermione found that she couldn't bring herself to care overly much about their likely reaction. They had been in the wrong with their outright refusal of any and all magical treatments, so she wouldn't feel guilty for what she had done.</p><p>There was nothing wrong with having to wear braces, of course. If one actually required them, that was. But for her parents to forbid her a safe, quick, and easy magical solution, and force her to instead undergo a lengthy and rather uncomfortable mundane treatment just so that their pride as dentists wouldn't be hurt, had been rather petty. Almost cruel, if she was honest about it.</p><p>Hermione sighed, a sad look forming on her face. That unreasonable demand of her parents had been a mere symptom of how strained her relationship with them had become ever since she had started at Hogwarts.</p><p>Her parents really didn't like that their only daughter was a witch. Such a thing threatened to bring their orderly little world completely out of balance. Hence, they much preferred to pretend that their daughter didn't go to a magic school, that she wasn't a witch, and that magic didn't exist, despite having been shown the evidence to the contrary.</p><p>It wasn't that her parents mistreated her or anything. But they were always distant, aloof, and treated her with a strange politeness usually reserved for distant acquaintances. Still, they provided for her, they supported her financially, they took her on vacations. They probably even loved her. At least, they loved their daughter Hermione, child prodigy and top student. They certainly didn't love Hermione, the witch, who they pretended didn't exist.</p><p>After that fateful visit of Professor McGonagall over four years ago, when she and her parents had been told about the wizarding world, Hermione had started to feel like a stranger in her own home, and every summer that feeling had only gotten more pronounced.</p><p>While she primarily blamed this on the narrow-mindedness of her parents, Hermione also knew that Hogwarts and the magical world hadn't exactly helped. Her parents weren't informed about the happenings at school. They couldn't visit the castle. She couldn't practice magic at home to show them what she was learning. Maybe-</p><p>"Are you all right, Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked with concern, startling Hermione out of her musings. "Aren't the teeth to your liking? Or are you otherwise hurt?"</p><p>"No, no," Hermione replied quickly, annoyed with herself for letting her mind wander. "I'm sorry, I just got a bit distracted. You have done a wonderful job. Thank you very much, Madam Pomfrey."</p><p>"You're welcome, dear," the school nurse answered kindly. "Now off you go, before you miss too much of your class."</p><p>Hermione slightly grimaced at that, but she only gave a polite nod in response.</p><p>"Yes, thank you again, Madam," she said and turned towards the exit of the infirmary.</p><p>As she stepped outside and closed the doors behind her, Hermione thought that she really didn't feel like re-joining the Potions class. She didn't feel like joining Snape's class ever again, if she was honest about it.</p><p>No, the Potions classroom was the last place she wanted to be right now. So, instead of going to the dungeons, she just started to aimlessly walk away from the Hospital Wing. While she didn't have a destination in mind, her steps soon were automatically leading her towards the library, her usual place to go when she had things to mull over.</p><p>With the pain in her jaw gone, she was now able to think more clearly. In her mind, she replayed what had happened in the Potions corridor several times over, and her initial feelings of hurt, shock, and betrayal at Snape's behaviour slowly subsided, giving way to deep, passionate anger.</p><p>
  <em>I see no difference.</em>
</p><p>How a vile bully like Snape could ever be allowed to teach children, she didn't know. But she knew that she wouldn't stand for it!</p><p>But what to do about it? Was there anything that <em>could</em> be done?</p><p>Normally, her first instinct would have been to lodge a formal complaint against Snape. Either with Professor McGonagall, as the Deputy Headmistress, or with Headmaster Dumbledore directly.</p><p>But now, she felt much less confident about such a course of action. Would that really be effective? Would Professor McGonagall do anything? She certainly had to be aware of Snape's general bias and unpleasantness, and she had never intervened. And the same was true for Professor Dumbledore.</p><p>For years, both the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress had allowed Snape's unprofessional conduct, his bullying of students, to continue unchallenged.</p><p>Weren't they aware of what was going on? This had been an issue for many years, most likely for over a decade, so they certainly had to know! They knew, and they weren't doing anything!</p><p>Hermione halted.</p><p>Suddenly, she knew with absolute certainty that the Professors and the Headmaster would never do anything to protect the students from Snape's abuse, just like they hadn't done anything to protect the school from basilisks, trolls, or dementors. Just like they had left it up to three first-years to prevent the Philosopher's Stone from getting stolen by Voldemort. Just like they had left it up to a second-year to kill a basilisk. Just like they had left it up to two third-years to save Sirius from getting his soul sucked out by a dementor.</p><p>The level of negligence displayed by the staff of the school was staggering.</p><p>And it was the same this year. The teachers weren't doing anything to help Harry. They knew that Harry had been wrongfully entered into the Triwizard Tournament, likely in some kind of assassination attempt, but could any of the teachers be bothered to do anything about it? No! No one was investigating what had happened or who was responsible. No one was conducting interviews or was questioning people with a possible motive under Veritaserum. No one was looking for ways for Harry to get out of the tournament.</p><p>They were all content to let Harry risk his life once again. They couldn't even be bothered to offer him any help for the tasks.</p><p>Looking at all of this at once, it was shocking.</p><p>One Defence Professor possessed by Voldemort, the next one a fraud who tried to kill Harry and Ron for a good story, the one after that a fool who forgot that he was a werewolf during the full moon, and now a paranoid maniac who in the real world would be deemed just as unsuited to teach children as Snape, Binns, or Trelawney. Or Hagrid, if she was honest.</p><p>Detentions in the Forbidden Forest at night, an unchecked colony of Acromantula close to the school, a basilisk roaming the halls unchallenged, a dark artefact possessing a student unnoticed, a school governor getting away with attempted murder, dementors attacking students, people sneaking into the castle undetected, and now a stupid tournament where school children would risk their lives for a handful of Galleons to the amusement of the populace...</p><p>She had always known about the incidents, about the isolated events. But now she saw the pattern.</p><p>Hogwarts wasn't safe. The faculty was negligent at best and malicious at worst. And what was true for Hogwarts, was also true for the Ministry and Magical Britain at large. There was no sense of responsibility, no accountability, no rule of law. Not if it wasn't convenient for those in charge.</p><p>What did this mean?</p><p>With her long overdue epiphany on the true nature of Hogwarts and the wizarding world, what action should she take? Right now, what did this revelation mean for her and Harry?</p><p>First of all, she certainly had to rethink her priorities.</p><p>Getting back at Snape or any such nonsense wasn't really important right now. Nor were many of the things she had always cared about most. Her school work and her grades didn't matter in the face of Magical Britain's bigotry and the continuous threats to her and Harry's health and very lives. And as much as it pained her, even her crusade for the rights of the house-elves would have to be put on hold for now.</p><p>Above all, she had to ensure the safety of Harry and herself. The major issue in that regard was of course the Triwizard Tournament and Harry's forced participation in it.</p><p>So, that was what she had to do now. She had to help her Harry even more ferociously than before. She had to keep her Harry safe.</p><p>Her Harry.</p><p>For this was her most closely guarded secret: That Hermione Jane Granger was completely and utterly in love with Harry James Potter.</p><p>How could she not have fallen in love with him? He had jumped on the back of a troll for her in their first year, only to then quickly become her first real friend, and then, as the relationship with her parents deteriorated, the most important person in her life.</p><p>What she felt for him might have started out as a silly school girl crush, with her doodling hearts with the inter-winded letters H.J.P. and H.J.G., or occasionally H.J.P. and H.J.P., on the sides of her notes from History of Magic. But her love for him had only grown ever since. Not because of his heroism or because of his silly moniker, but because despite all the difficulties in his life, he remained such a caring, gentle, and humble person.</p><p>He wasn't perfect. Harry didn't stand up to Ron when he made nasty comments about her. Nor did he stand up for himself when he was treated unfairly by students or professors, as it happened so often. He could be stubborn and often leaped into danger without thinking. He also didn't really apply himself in his studies, which saddened her. Though she blamed that mostly on Ron's influence. She knew that Harry could be brilliant when he put in the effort.</p><p>But everyone was allowed to have faults, and his could easily be excused. Considering all the hardships that life had heaped upon him in his young years, it was astonishing enough how he could still be growing into such a fine, compassionate, amazing young man.</p><p>She saw the vulnerable boy under the larger-than-life image of the Boy-Who-Lived, and her heart ached for him as he was thrown into one traumatic experience after another over their years at Hogwarts. And even though Harry never talked about his home life, she also knew that he hadn't been shown much affection from his relatives, and often she just wanted to hold him and tell him that there were people who cared about him and who loved him, and that everything would be all right.</p><p>But she couldn't tell him how she felt. Not until he showed her any indication that he might feel the same way about her. Their friendship was just too important to her.</p><p>It hurt that he had never shown this kind of interest towards her. She consoled herself with the fact that boys just developed slower than girls, and Harry was almost a year younger than her, so there was still time.</p><p>Hermione shook her head, annoyed at where her thoughts had led her. There was a time and a place for pointless daydreaming, and it wasn't now.</p><p>Harry didn't need another fan-girl fawning over him right now, he needed someone to help him with the thrice-damned tournament. And it was up to <em>her</em> to help him, as evidently, no one else could be bothered to do so.</p><p>With her mind set upon her new goal, Hermione paced up her walk towards the library. She needed to find a way for Harry to stay safe during the tasks, or preferably a way to get him out of the stupid competition altogether.</p><p>Was there a way out for him? After the Ministry officials and the Headmaster had all declared that there was nothing to be done, she had assumed that it wouldn't do any good for her to waste time researching the topic. But now she thought that she really should have done so.</p><p>The Ministry couldn't be trusted.</p><p>The teachers couldn't be trusted.</p><p>The <em>adults</em> couldn't be trusted.</p><p>It was up to her. And she would find a way to keep her Harry safe. He had saved her life several times already. Now that he needed her, it was time for her to save him.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to Proton6 and Pontus for proofreading this chapter, and thank you to the folks from the Harmony Discord group for their feedback and encouragement.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Conspiracy Theories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER TWO -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Conspiracy Theories</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Three hours later, Hermione was still sitting at her usual spot in the library. A thick tome on wizarding contractual law lay open in front of her while a dozen more books on the subject were piling on the desk on either side of her.</p><p>She trailed her finger along the tome's fine script as she read its lengthy descriptions on the nuances of explicit and implicit binding agreements, but she soon came to the conclusion that the book didn't contain any new information.</p><p>With a deep sigh, she shut the tome, laying it aside on the stack of other disregarded books next to her.</p><p>All the books said basically the same thing. A person couldn't be entered into a magical contract without their consent. But at the same time, that consent had only to be given in a disturbingly loose sense. It was even possible to enter into a magical contract unintentionally, as long as you were at least aware that you were assenting to some kind of agreement and had a rough idea of the subject matter.</p><p>Now, what did this mean for Harry? On the face of it, it seemed as if there could only be one conclusion. As Harry had never given any such assent before his name came out of the goblet, Hermione couldn't see how the Goblet of Fire could possibly have formed a magical contract with him.</p><p>Unfortunately, things were rarely clear-cut when magic was involved. There was a remote possibility that the usual rules did not apply to the Goblet of Fire. It also might be possible – though she deemed it rather unlikely – that the obligation to compete had transferred to Harry when he had implicitly accepted to be a champion after his selection. However, it seemed much more likely to her that such a thing, if possible at all, would require a more definite action on his part, such as Harry participating in the First Task.</p><p>Still, she needed to better understand how Harry might be affected if he broke a hypothetical contract with the Goblet of Fire. What would happen if a champion refused to compete in the Triwizard Tournament?</p><p>Earlier, when she had gathered the books that now lay next to her, she had scoured the shelves for a rulebook of the Triwizard Tournament and for books on the Goblet of Fire. But her research had come up empty there. There were no books on either topic to be found in the library.</p><p>But luckily, she had discovered one other book that might be of help to her now. She reached over the desk and grabbed the ancient-looking tome, placing it in front of her. It was titled <em>The Triwizard Tournament Through the Ages</em> and would hopefully contain the answer to her question. After all, there surely had been some champion who had tried to back out during the tournament's long history.</p><p>Hermione opened the book and began to read, her eyes skimming over the text.</p><p>After almost an hour, she had flipped through over two thirds of the book but still hadn't found any account of a champion voluntarily quitting the tournament.</p><p>She was beginning to lose hope, when one paragraph in the text caught her attention. She halted and began to read it more closely. Finally, she had found what she was looking for.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The Triwizard Tournament of 1714 is not only known for the up until then highest death count in the history of the tournament, due to a rampaging Minotaur in the first task, but also for the only instance of a champion refusing to compete. Cadmius Campbell, later known as Cadmius the Coward, refused to fight against the wild Minotaur and fled before the first task. In response, the Goblet of Fire stripped him of his magic. Cadmius unsuccessfully tried to convince the public to call him by the more flattering name of Cadmius the Clever after his two co-champions were killed by the Minotaur, along with thirty-two spectators. However, as a Squib, Cadmius was naturally cast out of the wizarding world and was forced to settle among Muggles. The squibbed Cadmius died only a year later when his Muggle neighbours accused him of practising witchcraft and burnt him on the stake.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Hermione looked up from the book and closed it forcefully. The loud thump as the book slammed shut elicited an admonishing hiss from the librarian Madam Pince, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to care about her breach of library etiquette.</p><p>She was furious. So that ominous reason for why Harry – according to Dumbledore – had no choice but to compete was the loss of his magic. That just didn't make any sense! Yes, Harry losing his magic would be unfortunate, but she'd certainly prefer Harry to be without magic than dead!</p><p>And of course, he would only be affected if the Goblet had actually created a binding contract with him. Judging by everything she had read so far, that in itself was unlikely enough.</p><p>So, if Harry refused to participate, there would be a slight chance that he might lose his magic. But he would stay alive. He wouldn't have to risk his life in tasks that would be dangerous even for seventh-years.</p><p>Why weren't the tournament officials opting for that solution? Why had they never explained to Harry what the magical contract might mean for him? Why did they not give Harry the knowledge he needed to make a decision himself?</p><p>Didn't they know? How could they not know what she had found out within only a few hours? How could they- Or... or did they know?</p><p>
  <em>Did they know?</em>
</p><p>For the Ministry, it made sense to make Harry compete, just to have the Boy-Who-Lived participate in the tournament. It would bring good publicity to the event.</p><p>But what were the professors thinking? Dumbledore, but McGonagall, too?</p><p>Suddenly, the realisation hit her. They wanted Harry to take part because they were using him as bait! It was the only logical explanation. They wanted Harry to compete because it would make it easier to find the person who had entered his name into the goblet. If the perpetrator was maliciously targeting Harry, there was a chance that they would reveal themself during one of the tasks.</p><p>But how could Dumbledore and McGonagall do this? They were professors! The welfare of the children in their care had to take priority over catching criminals!</p><p>How could teachers knowingly put their charges' lives at risk for some ulterior motive?</p><p>
  <em>How?</em>
</p><p>As she repeated the question in her mind, Hermione' eyes widened. All the things that had happened over the years... was it truly negligence? Or was it something else?</p><p>Suddenly, all her previous adventures at Hogwarts also became suspect.</p><p>She realised that she had been wrong before. It wasn't just that the teachers were ineffectual or negligent. It was worse! They were actively and knowingly endangering the life of the students.</p><p>Now that she thought about it, the traps that had 'protected' the Philosopher's Stone had been rather conveniently tailored to Harry, Ron, and her. They had been able to get past each trap easily. That couldn't possibly have been a coincidence! But the purpose of it all remained a mystery to her.</p><p>Then, in her second year, how could Dumbledore not have known that the monster threatening the school was a Basilisk, when she had figured it out as a second-year? Had he wanted Harry to be the one to fight the basilisk?</p><p>And in their third year, could Dumbledore really have been unaware of Sirius's innocence? Even if he had been, why didn't he push for Sirius to get a trial now? Why didn't the Headmaster use his vast political influence to help Harry's godfather?</p><p>Also, why had Dumbledore sent Harry and her to save Sirius from the dementors? Why hadn't he done it himself? Had it been another test for Harry? But why would Harry need to be tested like that in the first place?</p><p>What was going on?</p><p>No matter how many dangerous situations Dumbledore might have engineered for Harry, it couldn't be that the Headmaster simply wanted to kill Harry. If Dumbledore wanted Harry dead, she was quite certain that Harry would have died a long time ago.</p><p>It couldn't be something simple as that. She couldn't even begin to speculate on the reasons, but she knew that whatever plans Dumbledore had, they certainly didn't take Harry's safety or welfare into account.</p><p>While she would have liked to resolve this mystery of Dumbledore's motives, she didn't know of a way that wouldn't put Harry's life at risk at the same time. Unlike the adults, she wasn't willing to use Harry as bait to somehow figure out what was happening. She might not know any specifics, but she knew enough to see that Harry was in mortal danger at school.</p><p>So, what should they do? How could she ensure Harry's safety when his life was put in peril by both the staff and unknown perpetrators?</p><p>In the end, the conclusion was simple. Harry had to leave! He had to escape the madhouse that was Hogwarts and preferably get away from Magical Britain altogether. There really was no other way for him to stay safe.</p><p>She would have to leave, too, of course. She wouldn't let him run away on his own. He would need her help.</p><p>Could she do that? Run away? Her parents... well, her parents would be fine. She hated that she didn't feel much worse about contemplating leaving them, but things honestly weren't great between them and hadn't been for a long time. They wouldn't understand her decision to leave, but they hardly understood her decision to go to Hogwarts.</p><p>Her running away wouldn't change much between them. She didn't expect to spend much time at home over the next summers, now that she was getting older. And she could write from wherever she and Harry might go just as well as from Hogwarts. It would hardly change anything, really.</p><p>And her education? Well, she and Harry would keep up with their studies, of course. They would have to take the necessary books with them. And additional books for some more advanced reading, naturally. Maybe they could test out their OWLs and NEWTs once they were of age, either somewhere else in Europe or in Britain when it was safe for them to return.</p><p>If she was honest with herself, there wasn't much that she would miss about Hogwarts. She certainly wouldn't miss the many inept teachers, the rampant bullying and hysteric rumour mongering among the student body, or the general wilful ignorance towards the Muggle world displayed by pretty much everyone.</p><p>Apart from Harry and Ron, she didn't have any close friends at school. She had never been good at making friends. And to be honest, Ron wasn't exactly a close friend of hers, either. They certainly wouldn't be friends if it wasn't for Harry. And whether Ronald was still a friend of Harry's was also up for debate after he had abandoned Harry when his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire.</p><p>She had tried to help Harry and Ron patch things up between them, knowing how important that friendship was for Harry, but she was done making excuses for the redhead. Ron had deserted Harry when he needed his friends the most. And if Harry and she had to leave, Ron couldn't join them, anyway. Even if he had been a better friend, he would never leave his family and friends behind and run, nor could they ask that of him.</p><p>Harry might be a bit more reluctant to go than her, though. She knew that he would miss Ron, or Quidditch. But with the threats to his life, it should be evident even to Harry that giving up a bad friend and a favoured past-time activity was preferable to putting his life in peril.</p><p>So, what did she have to do now?</p><p>Hermione fetched a quill and a sheet of parchment out of her bookbag and began to list her next steps. The First Task would take place on Tuesday the week after next. Ten days. That was how much time she had until everything needed to be ready.</p><p>First, she had to tell Harry of her findings and convince him to run away. She hoped that he would agree with her, but she felt confident that he would see reason once she had laid out her argument. Surely, he would see that it would be in his own best interest to leave this damnable school where he had nearly died several times each year.</p><p>Once Harry was on board, there were a lot of things she had to research. She needed to learn how she and Harry could remain hidden from all means of magical detection, and she needed to get more information on the magical communities abroad. She knew very little about Wizarding Europe outside of Britain.</p><p>Then, depending on her findings, she had to plan their escape in more detail. Some ideas were already taking form in her mind. They would also need to gather any necessary supplies, maybe during the Hogsmeade trip the following weekend.</p><p>Hermione looked over the list again and nodded with satisfaction. Everything that needed to be done was included, and she felt confident that she would be able to achieve these goals.</p><p>Now, she only had to talk to Harry.</p><p>She glanced towards the clock that hung over the entrance of the library and was startled to see that she had totally lost track of time. Dinner had already started a few minutes ago.</p><p>Hurriedly, she gathered the books from her desk and put them back on the right shelves before she darted out of the library and made her way to the Great Hall.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>Slightly out of breath, Hermione entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. She looked around and saw Harry eating by himself at the near-end of the Gryffindor table.</p><p>Quickly, she walked towards him and sat down on the bench next to him.</p><p>"Hi, Harry," she greeted him, panting slightly.</p><p>"Hermione," Harry said and looked up at her, his expression changing into one of concern. "Are you all right? Your teeth..."</p><p>"Yes, don't worry, Madam Pomfrey fixed my teeth easily enough. They are fine," Hermione answered.</p><p>"More than fine, actually," she added with a bright smile towards Harry.</p><p>"Ah, good," Harry said with relief and lowered his gaze towards his plate. Hermione was slightly disappointed that he hadn't noticed the changes to her teeth, though she wasn't very surprised by that.</p><p>"I'm sorry that I got you hexed," he then said remorsefully.</p><p>"Harry, it was Malfoy's hex that hit me," Hermione answered forcefully. Honestly, Harry just had to take the blame for everything. "And I don't blame you for wanting to hex him, he was awful."</p><p>Harry wasn't looking at her, but he nodded, scowling slightly.</p><p>"And Snape was awful, too, of course," Hermione continued. "What happened after I left?"</p><p>Harry's scowl deepened. "He deducted some points, and me and Ron got detention for shouting at him. I actually don't remember what I said..."</p><p>The boy shot her a nervous glance, and Hermione realised that he expected her to admonish him for losing his temper and shouting at a professor. She was annoyed with herself for how she had acted in the past. Well, no time like the present to try to make things right.</p><p>Harry's face showed his surprise as she gave him a small smile and reached for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.</p><p>"Thank you for standing up for me," she said. "And I'm sorry for how Snape always treats you. It's not right, and I should have seen it sooner. I'm sorry. I wish there was something we could do about it, but I doubt it..."</p><p>"Oh..." Harry mumbled, giving her a startled look. "It's all right... and, well, yes... I doubt we can do something about it..."</p><p>He sighed. "Well, at least I was excused from Potions today because as a <em>champion</em> I had to be at the Weighing of the Wands."</p><p>"Pardon?" Hermione asked, surprised by the sudden change of topic.</p><p>"I had to be at the Weighing of the Wands," Harry repeated. "All participants of the tournament had to be there."</p><p>"Why would they need to know the weight- no, that can't be it, what did they do?" Hermione wondered.</p><p>"Well, Mr Ollivander was there and he tested our wands," Harry replied with a shrug.</p><p>"Tested them for what?"</p><p>"Well... I dunno... If they work all right, I suppose?"</p><p>Hermione frowned. "I've never heard of wands needing testing. And why did they do that now, and not directly before the task? What if the wand of one of the champions gets damaged in between now and the task?"</p><p>"Huh," Harry responded, "that's a good point. I don't know."</p><p>A moment later, he snorted derisively. "It was probably more of a photo-op, then. I also had an interview with this ghastly reporter who completely distorted everything I said. I really don't want to know what the paper will say tomorrow..."</p><p>"Don't worry about it, it doesn't matter," Hermione replied. "Besides... well... there are much more important things to worry about. I have done some research and have come to some conclusions that I have to tell you about."</p><p>"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.</p><p>"Not here, where everyone can hear us," Hermione replied with a low voice. "I'll tell you after dinner."</p><p>Harry nodded and returned his attention to the plate in front of him, while Hermione filled her own plate. While they were both eating quickly, Hermione nervously went over all the things she had to share with Harry and tried to plan out how to best tell him of her discoveries.</p><p>"All right, let's go, then," Harry said once they had finished their meals.</p><p>Hermione nodded and they left the Great Hall. Once outside, she quickly strode towards an empty classroom a few steps down the corridor from the entrance hall. Harry followed along, a curious expression on his face.</p><p>"So... what's this about?" he asked as soon as they were in the classroom and he had closed the door behind them.</p><p>Hermione sat down on one of the desks in the front row and took a deep breath. "It's about a lot of things... There is a lot I have discovered... "</p><p>"Well, I suppose our homework will have to wait, then," Harry said, giving her a lopsided grin as he sat down next to her. "What is it?"</p><p>"I... well, I discovered several things..." she said. "But, the most important thing, I think, right now, is that you won't compete in the Triwizard Tournament."</p><p>"Uh- What?" Harry asked, taken aback.</p><p>"I looked up how magical contracts work. Despite what the tournament officials and Dumbledore said, I don't think you really have to participate," Hermione explained at a rapid pace. "I think it's very unlikely that the Goblet could have formed a magical contract with you without your consent. There might be a small chance that the obligation to compete transferred to you later on, but I think that's rather improbable, too... I also researched what would be the penalty for breaking any possible contract with the Goblet of Fire..."</p><p>She paused for a moment and then went on. "As I said, I don't think that the risk for this is high, because it's very unlikely that the Goblet of Fire actually formed some kind of contract with you. You didn't enter your name into it and weren't even around it for any prolonged period of time. But... but if a contract was formed that includes you, and you don't take part, you would only lose your magic. So that-"</p><p>"What?" Harry exclaimed. "No! I- Then I have to compete! I can't lose my magic!"</p><p>"Don't be stupid!" she said dismissively. "Would you rather risk your magic, or your life?"</p><p>"Hermione..." Harry began.</p><p>Hermione looked at Harry quizzically, confused why he was having difficulties making a decision that really should be clear-cut.</p><p>"Either you participate in a tournament that is meant for witches and wizards that are three years older than you. In a tournament that was suspended because of the high death toll among the participants! The risk of you getting injured or worse would be extremely high," she said, trying to simplify things for him. "Or, you refuse to take part in that death trap. Then, you won't be in that danger, but you might lose your magic. It would only be a slight risk. I don't think that you'll-"</p><p>"Hermione, you don't understand..." Harry interrupted her, a slight hitch in his voice.</p><p>"No, Harry, you don't understand!" she replied forcefully, slowly becoming frustrated with him. "You might die! Isn't a low risk of losing your magic much better than a high risk of losing your life!?"</p><p>"I can't go back, Hermione! I can't!" Harry shouted with a trembling voice, shaking his head frantically. "I'd rather die than go live with them again! I don't... won't- I need to... without..."</p><p>Hermione blinked. She had never seen Harry in such a state. <em>Rather die than go live with them again</em> – what was that all about? Why was he worried about-</p><p>A cold feeling of dread ran down her spine.</p><p>Yes, she had known that Harry didn't get along very well with his relatives. But this kind of panic attack...</p><p>Things had to be much, much worse.</p><p>"Harry?" she asked timidly, almost pleadingly.</p><p>He apparently didn't hear her. "I won't! The summers are bad enough... but without magic... I'll take my chances with the tournament. I don't- I can't go back there..."</p><p>"Oh, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, engulfing the trembling boy in a strong hug. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she couldn't stop a small sob from escaping her lips.</p><p>How could she have missed this? How could she have missed that the boy she loved, <em>her Harry</em>, was mistreated by his guardians? How could she have missed something that was so blatantly obvious in hindsight, now that she knew it?</p><p>"I'm so sorry... I'm sorry... Why have you never told me how bad it was?" she sobbed out. "What have these vile people done to you?"</p><p>Harry only shook his head, and she decided not to press for any details and just hugged him more tightly.</p><p>He was still breathing heavily but began to calm down slowly. Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around her and returned her hug.</p><p>For a while, neither of them said anything, until Hermione looked up at him from where she was pressed against him, giving him a look filled with sadness and compassion.</p><p>"Harry, please listen to me," she said, "Whatever happens, I promise you won't go back to... to your <em>relatives</em>."</p><p>He gave a resigned sigh. "There's nothing you can do. Dumbledore insists that I go back there every year."</p><p>"<em>Dumbledore</em>," she snarled, her sadness giving way to anger in the course of mere seconds. It was just another instance of the Headmaster sabotaging Harry's welfare.</p><p>Harry gave her a curious look, and Hermione knew that she would soon have to explain her uncharacteristic outburst.</p><p>She took a deep breath and let go of him, sitting back upright.</p><p>"Do you trust me?" she asked gently.</p><p>"You know that I do!" Harry replied with conviction.</p><p>"Then trust me when I say that whatever happens, you won't go back to the Dursleys."</p><p>"But Dumbledore-"</p><p>"Harry!" Hermione interrupted him. "If I hear you say 'But Dumbledore' one more time, I shall become very unhappy. You won't go back there! No matter what the old man says."</p><p>Harry blinked, and it took him a moment to answer, but then he nodded, giving her a small smile. "All right."</p><p>"Good," she said and gave him another squeeze. "You don't have to talk about it, but- but I think it might help. If you ever- whenever you're ready, I'll be ready to listen, Harry, okay?"</p><p>"I- not yet, Hermione," he replied haltingly. "But... thank you. Thank you for trying to keep me away from them. You're the first person to ever try to do something about them..."</p><p>"I'm so sorry, Harry," she said sadly. "You didn't deserve this. No one deserves this... I'm furious with the teachers. They should have intervened. It's their bloody job! But... but it doesn't do any good to be angry now. There are more pressing matters that demand our attention."</p><p>Harry sighed. "The tournament..."</p><p>"Yes," Hermione said. "As I said before, I think you should refuse to compete. You might lose your magic, most probably not, but even if you do, you won't go back to your relatives. I promise. We'll work something out..."</p><p>Harry nodded as she gave him a reassuring smile.</p><p>"But I don't think that your magic is at a big risk, anyway," she went on. "You didn't enter. If the Goblet could create a binding magical contract with anyone whose name got entered, it would be an incredibly powerful weapon, not just some obscure artefact that's used to determine the competitors of a school tournament. Someone could have entered Vol- Voldemort's name and be done with the fight, if that was how the Goblet worked. Obviously, that would be ridiculous."</p><p>Harry snorted at the thought. "Right."</p><p>"I think the obligation to compete could only transfer to you, maybe, if you participate in the first task. That might be interpreted as you voluntarily taking the place of the person who should actually compete. I don't know if that would be permissible, but it might be. I couldn't find the official rules anywhere..." She shrugged her shoulders apologetically.</p><p>"But I already took part in the wand weighing ceremony..." Harry pointed out, slightly worried.</p><p>Hermione frowned. "This silly wand weighing thing was not once mentioned in the history book on the tournament. I don't think it's officially part of it. You should be safe."</p><p>"So, I don't have to compete?" Harry summarised.</p><p>"No, I don't think so," she confirmed.</p><p>"Huh... All right... So... What should I do?" Harry asked. "I mean, I don't know what the task will be. Maybe it will be harmless. They said it would be safer than in the past, right? Maybe we're overreacting, and it actually won't be that dangerous. Maybe I should just wait until they tell me what they expect me to do, and if I think that I can't do it, I'll just refuse to compete?"</p><p>"Maybe," Hermione allowed. "But I don't think it will work. If you don't find out in time, it might be too late for you to back out."</p><p>"What do you mean?" he wondered.</p><p>"If you only learn of the task right before it starts, will they let you walk away?" she asked.</p><p>Harry frowned. "What are you saying, Hermione?"</p><p>"I think they would force you to compete anyway, even against your will," she stated. "They would find a way."</p><p>"Do you really think so?" Harry asked sceptically.</p><p>"They have already lied to you!" Hermione exclaimed. "Obviously, they aren't above manipulating you!"</p><p>"Huh... they have lied to me, haven't they..." Harry said, slowly becoming more upset. "Why would Crouch and Bagman do that... Or Dumbledore for that matter?"</p><p>"I don't really know," she replied. "And that's what worries me. I don't know. But clearly, something is rotten in the state of Denmark."</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"Something is wrong here! And... And it's not just with the tournament, but everything that has happened over the years..."</p><p>Hermione took a deep calming breath. Now, she had to hope that Harry would be willing to listen to her more outrageous suspicions.</p><p>"I've been thinking," she began again. "And, now, I know that probably sounds crazy, but I think Dumbledore might have been setting things up. Think about it! The traps in front of the Philosopher's Stone were precisely tailored to you, me and Ron. A simple unlocking charm, the Cerberus that Hagrid had told us how to get past, and hadn't he given you a flute for Christmas that year? Then Devil's Snare, which is part of the first-year syllabus. Maybe Dumbledore also expected Neville to join us. Then the flying keys, and you're a prodigy seeker. Then the chess set, and Ron is brilliant at chess. Then a troll, which we had fought before. Then a logic puzzle for me. And then the mirror, which you knew of already... That couldn't have possibly been a coincidence!"</p><p>"That really seems a bit weird..." Harry agreed, a frown beginning to form on his face.</p><p>"And in our second year," Hermione continued, "how could Dumbledore not have known that there was a Basilisk in the castle? Or how couldn't he have known that Quirrell had been possessed by Vol- Voldemort the year before? Or why didn't he save Sirius himself in our third year?"</p><p>Harry nodded along, his frown deepening.</p><p>"And this year..." Hermione said, spurred on by Harry's silent agreement. "Dumbledore is not helping you, even though he acknowledged that someone else entered you in the tournament in an attempt to kill you. No one is helping you! Why not? I think they're using you as bait to catch the person who entered your name... So, now, you not only have to face whatever danger they have in store for the task, you also have someone else plotting against you! Someone from inside Hogwarts, who's powerful enough to trick a powerful artefact such as the Goblet of Fire! In addition to the Death Eaters and Voldemort, of course, who also want to see you dead!"</p><p>She put one hand on Harry's shoulder and looked at him pleadingly, trying to make him understand. "Hogwarts isn't safe, Harry. Despite what Dumbledore says. First Voldemort possessing Quirrell, then the Basilisk and the diary that possessed Ginny, then Sirius and Pettigrew. A Death Eater had been sleeping in your dorm undetected for three years! How could anyone call this madhouse of a school safe!?"</p><p>She saw that she was getting through to him, and she pressed on. "Tell me, Harry, what stops a Death Eater from entering here under an Invisibility Cloak, sneaking up on you in the Great Hall during dinner and casting a Killing Curse at you? Nothing! We aren't safe here, Harry! I- I'm afraid. Sooner or later, your- <em>our</em> luck will run out..."</p><p>"I get it, Hermione, I really do," Harry said earnestly, "But do you really think Dumbledore is doing this on purpose? What would be the point?"</p><p>"I don't know," she admitted. "I have no idea. But whether it's on purpose or just negligence, ultimately, the Headmaster is responsible for all of this, because it's his school. I think, I <em>think</em> he's planning something, with you, with the tournament, and he doesn't seem to care about your safety. But even if that's not true, the point still stands that this school isn't safe for us. And it's still true that they were lying to you about the tournament."</p><p>"Right..." Harry said.</p><p>"So..." she continued. "So, with all that, I don't think they'd let you step down. I don't see how the Headmaster would just let you refuse to compete. He wants you to participate. He's allegedly the most powerful wizard alive, he'll find a way to make you if you refuse. He might use his influence, or he might just cast a compulsion hex at you or use other mind-altering magics..."</p><p>"It doesn't really seem like him to do that," Harry said slowly. "But... but after all that you've told me... I'm not so sure anymore..."</p><p>"Exactly!" Hermione agreed emphatically. "I don't know for sure what he would do. But can we be sure that he won't do something underhanded? Can we take that risk?"</p><p>Harry shook his head, much to her relief.</p><p>"And besides, does it even matter?" she added. "The school isn't safe either way."</p><p>"Right..." he said again. "But what can we do about it? How could we possibly change this?"</p><p>"No, we won't be able to change the school," Hermione admitted. "And as such, this leaves us only one option."</p><p>She took a deep breath before she revealed her conclusion.</p><p>"I think- I think we should leave..."</p><p>"Leave?" Harry repeated, aghast.</p><p>"I think it would be best for us to leave," Hermione stated. "Get out of the country and away from this madness and whatever crazy scheme the Headmaster has in store for you this year."</p><p>"But- but what- I can't just leave, Hermione!" Harry protested. "Where would I go? What about my friends?"</p><p>"Friends?" she fumed. "Ron, who thinks you're a cheat and refuses to talk to you? Neville, Dean, Seamus? How many words have you or I actually spoken with them in the last month? Or in the last three years?"</p><p>Harry gave her a stricken look, cowering slightly, and Hermione regretted her tone immediately. She was still angry with her year-mates for not offering more support to Harry, and she was especially angry with Ron for deserting his supposedly best mate in a time of need, but she had no right to let her frustration out on Harry.</p><p>But before she could apologise, Harry sighed, apparently conceding the point.</p><p>"What about <em>you</em>?" he asked instead.</p><p>"I'll go with you, of course," she answered as if stating the obvious. Hadn't she said that already?</p><p>Apparently not, as Harry's jaw dropped.</p><p>"What?" he asked.</p><p>"I'll go with you," she repeated nonchalantly.</p><p>"But... Why?"</p><p><em>Because I'm in love with you, idiot!</em> she wanted to scream. But this wasn't the time for such declarations. <em>And why not?</em> a traitorous part of her mind asked. <em>Shut up!</em></p><p>She opted for the logical answer instead.</p><p>"The past years have shown clearly that I'm not safe here, either," she stated. "So, it would be best for me to leave, too. Don't you want me to go with you?"</p><p>"I can't ask that of you!" Harry exclaimed.</p><p>"You don't need to ask." Hermione replied reassuringly. "I won't let you leave on your own."</p><p>"But... What about your friends? Your family? Your education?" he asked with some agitation.</p><p>Hermione sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really have any friends here besides you. And I can keep in touch with my parents from wherever we go. I don't think they'll miss me much. They... they don't like that I'm a witch..."</p><p>Harry's posture suddenly got rigid and he shot her a horrified look, and Hermione realised how he must have interpreted her words.</p><p>"No!" she said quickly. "Not like those- Nothing like... like that. But ever since I got my Hogwarts letter, they have been distant. They would never hurt me, but they treat me more like a stranger. They'll probably be glad that I'm out of their hair..."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry said with a hollow voice.</p><p>She sighed. "So am I. But I've gotten used to it. Anyway, I won't have to feel bad about leaving them... "</p><p>"And what about your education?" Harry asked. "You've always been very... passionate about school."</p><p>"Well," Hermione replied with a small smile. "That's true. But I think us leaving this madhouse would probably be beneficial for our education. We could keep up with our studies on our own. We might even learn more that way. Just imagine learning Potions without Snape hovering nearby, or learning about history without falling asleep."</p><p>Harry chuckled. "That <em>does</em> sound good..."</p><p>There was a small pause between them, before Harry exhaled deeply and nodded. "Wow... All right, Hermione... I'm not disagreeing with what you said. I think you're right. But... it's a lot, and all of a sudden... can you give me some time?"</p><p>"Of course, Harry," she agreed. "It's up to you. But please, promise me you'll think about it?"</p><p>"I will," he confirmed. "I already am. What you said makes a lot of sense. Just... I need some time to think about it, all right?"</p><p>Hermione nodded, pleased by his reaction overall. Truly, this had gone better that she could have hoped for.</p><p>"So..." Harry spoke up again a moment later. "If we do this... <em>How</em> would we do it?"</p><p>"Well," Hermione began, "We would need to make a plan and prepare a lot, of course. We would need to leave the country, but we can't live in the Muggle world on our own, because we're underage. And we can't live openly in the magical world, either..."</p><p>"What would that leave us?" Harry wondered.</p><p>"Uhm, well," she replied hesitantly. "I was hoping that- uhm... that maybe you could use some of your money to buy a wizard tent? Like those at the Quidditch World Cup? We could travel. You have never been outside Britain, have you? And we could buy all the school books and maybe some other books and learn what we need to on our own. And once we're of age, we can come back and test out our OWLs and NEWTs. But on our own terms, when no one can control us."</p><p>"And- and if I lose my magic?" Harry asked carefully.</p><p>"You won't-" she began.</p><p>"But-"</p><p>"But if you do," she replied, interrupting him, "I guess the only thing that changes would be that you'll use a different set of books for your studies. You could learn what you need to know to get into whatever field of study in whatever university you'd like. I could easily magic up any certifications that you might need for that."</p><p>"Huh... all right..." Harry said and nodded. "I see you've already put a lot of thought into this..."</p><p>"Well, a bit, yes," Hermione confirmed. "And I'll continue to plan everything out. If you decide we should leave, I want everything to be ready..."</p><p>"But it's your decision to make," she added quickly. She knew that she could be bossy, but she didn't want him to make such a life-altering choice if he wasn't convinced of it himself. "You decide."</p><p>"All right, thank you, Hermione," Harry said, "Though I think I know my decision already..."</p><p>"You can think about it, it's all right," she replied with a smile. "If we decide to leave, we have ten days to prepare. We don't have to decide tonight."</p><p>"Right..." Harry agreed. "Should we get back to the common room, then?"</p><p>Hermione nodded, and they rose from the desk and left the classroom, stepping out into the corridor.</p><p>Hermione and Harry passed many groups of students as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower, and Hermione scowled when she spotted blinking <em>Support Cedric Diggory!</em> badges on the robes of many of the students.</p><p>Several students pressed their badges when she and Harry walked by, changing the message to <em>POTTER STINKS</em>, eliciting much laughter from the bystanders.</p><p>"Just ignore them, Harry," Hermione muttered and reached for his hand as they walked along. "They don't matter."</p><p>Internally, she was seething with anger. How could the faculty allow this rampant bullying? Why did none of the professors step in? What the bloody hell were they thinking?</p><p>Though, as she thought about it, she realised that she really shouldn't be surprised about this. The bullying and the abuse in the hallways certainly weren't a new phenomenon.</p><p>She remembered her second year, when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!' Draco Malfoy had screamed within earshot of Dumbledore and most of the faculty when they had found the petrified Mrs Norris.</p><p>No one had batted an eye.</p><p>She huffed in anger at the memory. Bloody wankers, the whole lot of them! The school, the staff, they could go to hell for all she cared. And the rest of Magical Britain, too. Harry and she evidently weren't wanted in this world, so why should they stay? She only wished she could see the faces of the staff and all witches and wizards in Britain when they realised that they had finally driven off the boy they all saw as some kind of hero and saviour figure. And if Voldemort ever came back, they'd all better be prepared to fight him themselves this time. There would be no more Boy-Who-Lived to save their sorry arses once again.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to Proton6 and WH Rutledge for proofreading and improving this chapter. Also, if you like to read about Harry and Hermione running away from Britain, and are interested in a much darker take on that premise, check out Proton6's new story "The Flame of Resistance"! It's shaping up to become an awesome action thriller involving a lot of world-building, where an older Harry and Hermione flee from Britain after Voldemort has taken over.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A Well-Planned Adventure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER THREE -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>A Well-Planned Adventure</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The snide comments, insults, and outright bullying only got worse the following day.</p><p>Saturday started out as usual, with Harry and Hermione sitting by themselves at the end of the Gryffindor table for breakfast. But when the post owls descended into the Great Hall to deliver the day's mail, Hermione immediately felt that something was off.</p><p>Students were shooting looks at Harry and her, there was a lot of derisive laughter, and several students shouted comments across the hall. She couldn't make out all that was said, but none of it sounded particularly flattering.</p><p>"...had to take the spotlight, Potter?"</p><p>"He's such a braggart!"</p><p>"...arrogant Potter! Always knew..."</p><p>"...can't help yourself, can you?"</p><p>It wasn't difficult to see that the Daily Prophet was the reason for the commotion, with the way students congregated around those few who had received a copy of the newspaper.</p><p>Hermione looked down the Gryffindor table and observed Neville, who had also gotten the paper, as he read it with a frown on his face. When he flipped past the first page, Hermione saw a huge picture of Harry plastered over half of the front page.</p><p>She rose from the bench and stomped the few yards towards her classmate.</p><p>"Let me see this," she growled and snatched the newspaper out of the surprised boy's hands.</p><p>Hermione's eyes narrowed with anger when she saw the headline.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <strong>HARRY POTTER: HIS LIFE, HIS WORDS</strong> </em>
  <br/>
  <em> <strong>By Rita Skeeter</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She returned to her seat and slammed the newspaper onto the table, allowing Harry to read it, too.</p><p>"I knew it," he groaned as soon as he saw the front page. "I knew she would just make everything up. Now, everyone... They'll all think I..."</p><p>"Just- just ignore them, Harry. It doesn't matter," Hermione said with a sigh, though it sounded rather dispirited even to her. She knew very well how much Harry hated any kind of attention and how much this would embarrass him.</p><p>Apprehensive of what she would find, Hermione began to read the article in full. Her indignation only increased with every sentence she read. The article went on and on with supposed quotes from Harry, but she knew immediately that Harry would never have said any of the things that were attributed to him. All in all, the text somehow portrayed him both as a broody kid who still mourned the death of his parents, and as a reckless glory-hound who broke rules just to get some more fame to his name.</p><p>The most irksome lie, however, was spared for the end of the article. Hermione almost choked when she reached the second-to-last paragraph of the text.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She observed how Harry's eyes also widened when he read about their supposed relationship.</p><p>"But- but we're not together!" he exclaimed, his cheeks blushing crimson.</p><p>She was slightly hurt by his tone, but Hermione knew he didn't mean it the way it sounded. He was simply feeling embarrassed and probably dreaded the students' reaction to the article.</p><p>"And it wouldn't be anyone's business if we were," she said with a level voice, pretending not to notice the quizzical glance he shot at her. "This is all rubbish, anyway. How anyone can take this rag seriously is beyond me."</p><p>With that, she crumpled the Prophet together and forcefully chucked it on the floor next to her. Only a moment later, it occurred to her that the newspaper had been Neville's, but she couldn't bring herself to care about her act of some minor property damage. That paper shouldn't be read by anyone, anyway.</p><p>"I think I'm done with my breakfast," she said to Harry. "Are you ready to go?"</p><p>"Yes, I think I lost my appetite," he replied with a scowl. "Let's get out of here."</p><p>They both rose from the table and quickly left the Great Hall, turning towards the stairs to return to Gryffindor Tower.</p><p>"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," Harry said miserably as they walked along.</p><p>"You didn't do anything wrong," Hermione replied consolingly. "Don't blame yourself for other people's actions!"</p><p>"If I had just declined talking to Skeeter-"</p><p>"How would that have stopped her from making things up about you?" Hermione asked with exasperation. "She would still have written her usual tripe."</p><p>"I suppose," Harry conceded. "I expected the Prophet to write something like this about me, but I didn't think they'd drag you into this, too."</p><p>"Don't worry about it," Hermione replied. "Besides... To be honest, Skeeter actually didn't write anything negative about me. Quite the opposite, actually. She only wrote that I'm among the top of the class, which is true, that I'm pretty, which isn't true but still flattering-"</p><p>Harry made some indistinctive noise at that, but Hermione just went on. "-and that we're together, which isn't true but also isn't- it's not exactly insulting to me, as far as made-up stories go... She only made <em>you</em> look bad."</p><p>"Well... I- I guess..." Harry replied with a frown, giving her another strange look. She wondered if she could dare to hope that even a frustratingly oblivious boy like him had gotten a hint as broad as this.</p><p>"But people will still give you a hard time because of this," Harry continued.</p><p>Hermione shrugged in response. "By now, I think we've weathered worse."</p><p>"Well, that's true," Harry agreed, his mood perking up slightly.</p><p>He gave her a small smile. "I suppose we'll manage a few more days here..."</p><p>Hermione halted at hearing that. "A few more days?" she repeated, beaming at him. "So, you're sure? You agree that we should leave?"</p><p>"Yes," Harry affirmed with a nod. "I... I trust you on your conclusions that I probably don't have to compete in the tournament. And leaving... It's something I never thought about before. I didn't want to return to the Muggle world. But..."</p><p>He shrugged and smiled at her. "I suppose it would be nice to leave all this drama here behind. Like with the Prophet this morning. It... it just seems to get worse every day. And then there's the danger, too, I suppose. So, to leave but to keep most of what's best about the magical world... that sounds pretty good to me..."</p><p>"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said softly and gave him a brief but heartfelt hug. Being his oblivious self, he probably had no idea just how <em>romantic</em> his statement had been, but that didn't stop her heart from fluttering a bit.</p><p>"I'm glad that you agree that we should get away from this school," she continued a moment later. "But that means we have a lot to prepare. There is much we have to find out!"</p><p>"To the library, then?" Harry asked with a grin.</p><p>"Yes," she replied. "Let's just fetch our book bags first."</p><p>After the brief detour to Gryffindor Tower, Hermione and Harry quickly made their way to the library. They found themselves a desk in a secluded corner away from prying eyes, where they could safely begin to plan their escape.</p><p>"Now, what do we need to research?" Harry asked once they had sat down next to each other at the small desk.</p><p>"Several things," Hermione replied. "We need to learn more about the magical communities in Europe and how to make contact with them if we need to. And we need to learn how we can avoid being detected. If we trigger the Trace every time we do magic, that would be bad. So, we need to find out how the Trace works, and if it works outside of Britain, too. And we need to find out how we can stay hidden."</p><p>"All right..." he said, nodding slowly. "Maybe I could read up on the magical communities, and leave the research on the more complicated stuff on magic to you? I don't think I- I mean, it's just... You're better with magical theory, and you know about Arithmancy and Runes, so..."</p><p>"No that's fine," she replied quickly, "It's a good plan. You look up how to get into other magical quarters like Diagon Alley, and I'll look up the Trace and if it's the same everywhere in Europe... Great! Let's get going!"</p><p>They both got up and scoured the shelves of the library for the necessary books. Soon, their small desk was covered with books on travelling, European wizarding culture, and magical tracking.</p><p>Thankfully, no people bothered them in their quiet corner of the library as they spent the entire morning with their research. Of the handful of students walking by, none gave the pair more than a passing glance. Hermione was grateful for it. Otherwise, one of the passers-by might have wondered why she and Harry were preparing for the tournament by reading titles such as <em>Magical Detection: A Comprehensive History</em>, <em>Travelling Guide for the Adventurous Wizard</em>, or <em>The Strange Habits and Customs of our European Cousins.</em></p><p>As she read the books, Hermione soon realised that there was not much information on the Trace available, and the little information there was seemed to be rather contradictory. It didn't matter, however, as she discovered that the Trace would only work in Britain. Most other countries had less restrictions on underage magic.</p><p>So, Harry and she only had to leave the country, and they wouldn't have to worry about the Trace any longer. But they might still be tracked by other magical means.</p><p>Deep in thought, she nibbled her bottom lip, trying to think of ways to ensure that they would stay hidden. There might exist some charm to block all kinds of tracking attempts, but would she be able to find it and then learn it in time?</p><p>Hermione was brought out of her musings when she suddenly noticed from the corner of her eye that Harry had stopped reading the book in front of him and was looking straight at her. His eyes were transfixed on her face. Her lips, to be exact.</p><p>What was that all about? Hermione halted her nibbling on her bottom lip as she focused on Harry, trying to figure him out.</p><p>He didn't notice her peering at him. Instead, his gaze slowly, almost imperceptibly, left her lips and began to travel downward.</p><p>Was he... was Harry <em>checking her out</em>?</p><p>Hermione halted her breath as Harry's eyes moved down her neck and for a long moment rested on her chest area. She was just beginning do debate with herself whether she should maybe adjust her posture a bit when he snapped his head back towards his book, his cheeks taking on a slightly pink tinge.</p><p>Hermione also averted her eyes and looked back onto the open book in front of her, though she couldn't stop herself from smiling impishly. She wasn't offended by Harry checking her out, quite to the contrary. She was quite gleeful about it. As far as she was aware, this was the first time Harry had ever looked at her in a way that suggested that he knew she was a girl.</p><p>Getting him to think about her in a different light had been her goal with her comments on relationships in the morning. And apparently, it was working. She hadn't expected him to catch on that quickly, if she was honest about it.</p><p>This in itself didn't mean much, of course. Him checking her out didn't mean that he would ever be interested in her romantically. But it was an encouraging first sign. At least, he was apparently starting to figure out that she was indeed female.</p><p>She knew that there were far prettier girls in the school; her hair was a mess, and her teeth- well, her teeth were fixed now, weren't they? She was also not too unhappy with her figure since she started developing. She would never have the measures of someone like Lavender, but-</p><p>Hermione gave off a huff of annoyance and shook her head angrily. She really needed to get a hold of herself. Harry's life was at risk here! She couldn't waste time acting like a love-struck silly girl when she needed to focus on the task at hand.</p><p>As she had finished reading the books and Harry was apparently done, too, it was time to share their results.</p><p>"Harry?" she asked the boy, who was still staring intently at the book before him.</p><p>"Huh? Uhh... What?" he replied in a loud voice as he looked up at her.</p><p>"Are you done with the research?"</p><p>"Oh, yes, sure, I'm done," he said quickly and handed her the list he had been writing.</p><p>Hermione skimmed over it briefly, noting that there were far more magical communities in Europe than she had expected. There were five magical quarters in France alone, the most probable first stop for their escape. All in all, Harry had listed almost fifty magical quarters, each with a description on how to enter them.</p><p>"Well done, Harry!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "That will help us a lot!"</p><p>"I suppose. But we should probably try to avoid any magical communities," Harry pointed out. "The news would probably get to Dumbledore soon if we're spotted somewhere."</p><p>"Right," Hermione agreed. "We'd have to disguise ourselves, of course, but at least we know now how to get in touch with the other magicals in those countries. Or if we need some supplies, we know where to go..."</p><p>"Did you find out anything useful?" Harry asked.</p><p>"Well, there isn't much on the Trace, and what little there is, is pretty confusing," Hermione began. "It looks as if they don't want us to know how it works..."</p><p>"That's probably true..." Harry muttered.</p><p>"Now, we might be able to avoid the Trace by stealing a wand from an adult or an of-age student, but I'm not sure. We might also not be detected if we only do magic in proximity to magical areas like Diagon Alley..."</p><p>"But... that wouldn't be very practical," Harry said with a frown. "And finding a wand that works well for us would be difficult, too."</p><p>"Yes," Hermione agreed. "But it doesn't matter, anyway. Because if we leave the country, we won't be tracked. The Ministry can't track us abroad. And most countries in Europe don't track underage magic..."</p><p>"They don't?" Harry wondered.</p><p>"No. In France, Spain, and Italy, underage magic isn't restricted in the way it is in Britain. They allow kids to practise small spells on their own. The only thing they track are high-level spells in proximity to Muggle settlements. It's meant to protect Muggles against magical attacks."</p><p>"That's neat..." Harry commented. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."</p><p>"Yes," Hermione agreed. "And the German Magical Confederation tracks all magic everywhere, and you need a permit every time you want to cast spells outside your home or designated wizarding areas."</p><p>"Huh," Harry responded with a chuckle. "That's maybe a bit much?"</p><p>"Maybe," Hermione replied with a shrug. "But I get where they're coming from. It's really the only way to reliably keep the Statute of Secrecy, and to protect Muggles from wizards. And they have to protect their Muggle population both from Pureblood Supremacists, and from the remaining Magical Supremacists who supported Grindelwald."</p><p>"Oh, I see," Harry said, nodding slowly.</p><p>"The Low Countries and the Scandinavian Ministries have a combination of the French and German approaches," Hermione went on to summarise. "They only track magic close to Muggle settlements, but all kinds of magic are prohibited there... And nothing at all is tracked in Russia, I think. I didn't find anything on the rest of Europe."</p><p>"That's all right," Harry said. "So, what do you think? Should we go to France first?"</p><p>"Yes," Hermione agreed. "France is a good first stop. And then we can travel the continent..."</p><p>She paused as she observed Harry, who nodded along, a bright smile on his lips. She could see that the idea appealed to him greatly, which came at no surprise to her. He had never been able to travel like her, so of course he would feel excited about the prospect now. And the kind of freedom that would come with it would also be completely new to him. For that matter, it would be new and exciting for her, too.</p><p>She grinned back at Harry and went on. "Yes, we can start in France, and then we can just go wherever we want. We should probably move every few days, to make it more difficult to track us..."</p><p>"Right," Harry agreed.</p><p>"And..." Hermione hesitated, becoming more serious again. "While we're speaking of tracking... We have to make sure that no one can find us with magical means like a Point-me Spell, or an owl with tracking charms."</p><p>"Or house-elves!" Harry added. "If Dobby could find me two years ago, the house-elves at Hogwarts could probably find us, too."</p><p>"Yes, right..." Hermione muttered, frowning slightly. "We need a spell to protect us. Some anti-tracking charm against magical detection, owls, house-elves, Dumbledore's Phoenix, and so on. That's probably difficult... I'll look into the advanced charms and runes textbooks and hopefully I'll find something... But if I don't... I don't know what we could do..."</p><p>Harry nodded thoughtfully, but only a moment later, he broke into a huge grin. "We should ask Sirius! He would need those charms while he's on the run!"</p><p>"Huh," Hermione laughed out. "Of course! That's a great idea!"</p><p>"Though..." she remarked after a pause. "How would we make contact with him?"</p><p>"Oh, right," Harry said, "I forgot to tell you. I got an owl from him last evening. We will talk next weekend. He told me to be in the common room at one in the morning the night from Saturday to Sunday."</p><p>"Ah, good," Hermione replied. "We'll ask him then."</p><p>"Should we..." Harry began hesitantly. "Should we ask Sirius where he is when we speak with him? Maybe... I don't know... Maybe we could join up with him?"</p><p>"I... I don't know," she replied slowly. "We don't know where he is, and it might be dangerous. It's probably not very practical..."</p><p>"Well, maybe. But shouldn't we at least ask him?" Harry protested.</p><p>Hermione frowned. She understood that this was something Harry would like very much. But she felt much more wary of involving Harry's godfather. Would it really be wise to tell Sirius of their plan to run away? If they told him of their suspicions regarding Dumbledore, would he keep a level head and not do anything rash? And would he believe them in the first place? She wasn't sure.</p><p>Remembering another tidbit of information, Hermione arrived at a conclusion, but it wasn't one that Harry would like.</p><p>"Well..." she began carefully, bracing herself. "Another thing is whether we can trust Sirius with our plans..."</p><p>"What?" Harry exclaimed, giving her a hurt look. "Why wouldn't we be able to trust him?"</p><p>Hermione sighed. "You wrote to him that your scar hurt this summer, right?"</p><p>"Yeah?" he answered with a frown. "So what?"</p><p>"And what was his reply?"</p><p>"I told you before," Harry replied defensively. "He told me to talk to Dumbledore."</p><p>"Right..." Hermione said slowly. "To Dumbledore... Sirius didn't tell you to go to Saint Mungo's, the magical hospital. Or to talk to a healer, or to Madam Pomfrey. But to Dumbledore. Honestly, what business is it of the Headmaster that your scar hurts? What qualification does he have to examine a curse scar? He has masteries in Transfiguration and Alchemy. He's not a healer. So, why does Sirius tell you to talk to Dumbledore?"</p><p>"I... I don't know," Harry said sullenly.</p><p>"And I don't know, either. I'm sorry, Harry," she said sympathetically. "But clearly, Sirius has a very high opinion of the Headmaster, and thinks that you should listen to him on matters that don't concern him and that are outside his area of expertise, despite how bad his track record at looking out for your welfare actually is."</p><p>"So, Sirius isn't trustworthy either?" Harry asked dejectedly.</p><p>"I don't <em>know</em> that he isn't. But as long as we don't know for certain that he is, I think we shouldn't talk to him about our plans," she said, giving the boy a heartfelt, apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sure that Sirius cares about you. It- it's just..."</p><p>"It's just that he might trust Dumbledore too much," he grumbled. "Yes, I get it. You're probably right."</p><p>"I'm sorry," she said again, reaching for his hand and giving it a slight squeeze. And she truly was sorry. Maybe her paranoia was getting the best of her right now, but in her mind, they really couldn't be too careful with whom to trust. Best, not to trust anyone for now. They couldn't afford to make a mistake.</p><p>Harry sighed. "It's all right. I get it. If he thinks he needs to protect us and tells Dumbledore..."</p><p>"Exactly. We can't risk it," Hermione said. "That doesn't mean that he doesn't care about you. But we don't know where he would stand when we're up against the Headmaster..."</p><p>Harry nodded resignedly. "Fine. We'll just ask him for the charms he uses to stay hidden, then... We'll need an excuse for why we're asking that, though."</p><p>"Good point," Hermione agreed. "We'll think of something before next weekend."</p><p>Harry nodded, and there was a small pause between them.</p><p>"What else is there to plan?" Harry then asked after a while.</p><p>"Well, next, I think we need to think a bit on what supplies we need and what we have to buy before we can escape," Hermione replied.</p><p>"I mentioned before that it might be a good idea to buy a magical tent," she continued, hesitating slightly. "And... well, the thing is... I don't have many Galleons, and I don't expect my parents to give me any money, so we'd have to rely on your gold for all of this. Do you think you have enough money in your vault to buy a magical tent, and to last us for three years while travelling? I promise I'll pay you back for my living expenses!"</p><p>"What? No!" Harry protested. "You- you don't have to pay me anything back. You're sacrificing so much by coming with me – I still don't quite get why you would do this for me – so I'll be glad to pay for it all. I don't know how much a wizarding tent costs, but I have loads of Galleons in my vault, it should be enough."</p><p>"<em>Loads</em>?" Hermione repeated. "Have you- haven't you ever counted it?"</p><p>"Uhm, no," Harry admitted a bit embarrassed. "But I'm pretty sure that it should be enough for what we want to do."</p><p>"Honestly, Harry, why would you never count your money or ask for an account statement at Gringotts?" she asked with some exasperation. "How are you supposed to do any financial planning if you don't know how much money you have?"</p><p>"Well, how am I supposed to know these things?" Harry grumbled. "No one ever bothered to tell me..."</p><p>Hermione opened her mouth for a retort, but she halted when she realised that Harry was right, and that she was being unfair. How would he know these things? Harry's <em>relatives</em> had probably never given him even a single penny to his name, let alone taught him how to properly handle finances.</p><p>She launched herself at him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry! I keep forgetting... and <em>that's</em> not okay either! I... You should have learnt these things while growing up, but of course you didn't... not when you grew up with these- these<em> horrid people</em>... I'm sorry for berating you..."</p><p>Harry sighed. "I... It's all right, Hermione. I still should have figured out that it would be smart to ask for these things..."</p><p>Hermione shook her head slightly and continued to hold him. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry..."</p><p>As Harry awkwardly closed his arms around her and hugged her back, she also realised something else. Evidently, Harry had never been shown any love or affection while growing up with his relatives. He probably wouldn't know how to express his feelings. He wouldn't have a clue about what to do even if he did start to fancy her.</p><p>If she wanted anything to happen between them, it would be up to her to take the initiative. But that would have to wait. There were much more important matters that required her attention at the moment.</p><p>Hermione exhaled deeply and let go of Harry, trying to gather her thoughts.</p><p>"So..." she spoke up again after a long pause. "Are you sure you have enough gold to buy a wizard tent? I would expect it to cost several thousand Galleons. That's a lot of money. But don't worry, if that's too much, we could-"</p><p>"It's fine," Harry interrupted her. "Several thousand Galleons should work with what I have at Gringotts..."</p><p>"Oh..." Hermione muttered, a bit surprised by his confidence. "All right. Fine. Good. Then that's one less problem we have to worry about. Perfect. Now, there is much more we have to prepare, of course. As I said, I think we should list all the supplies we need to bring along. We could start with the books and everything else we need for our education. I think that's what we should do now. Could you maybe take a look at-"</p><p>"Let's maybe have lunch first?" Harry interrupted her, chuckling slightly. "Please?"</p><p>"Right. Sorry," Hermione replied with a bemused shake of her head. Of course she had lost track of time while researching in the library. Just like she always did. "Let's tidy up and go, then."</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>When they entered the Great Hall, Hermione noted that if anything, the animosity of the student body towards Harry and her had only gotten worse since breakfast. Ignoring the many hostile glares that greeted them, Harry and Hermione sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, and they continued trying to pay no mind to the many snide comments and insults hurled at them while they were eating in the Great Hall.</p><p>Harry wore a permanent scowl on his face during the meal, but Hermione thought that he was remaining remarkably calm all things considered. She, too, found it rather easy to ignore the abusive comments. Knowing that they would soon leave all this madness behind them really helped her to keep her composure, and she suspected that it was the same for Harry.</p><p>A small part of her still wanted to stomp towards the head table and scream at the faculty, at Dumbledore, for their negligence and their stupidity, for allowing all this bullying to continue unchallenged, but she knew that it wouldn't do any good and would only draw the Headmaster's attention towards Harry and her.</p><p>She knew that they needed to keep a low profile for their last week at Hogwarts while they prepared their escape. Starting fights with the staff was the last thing they should do right now, no matter how satisfying it might feel.</p><p>As such, the best they could do for the rest of the day was to keep their heads down, ignore the spectacle around them and avoid the rest of the students as much as possible.</p><p>It was what they did for the following week, too. Hermione and Harry kept to themselves as much as possible and spent their entire free time in their secluded corner in the library, where they were left in peace.</p><p>When they weren't in lessons or at meals, they continued to gather information on the magical communities both in Europe and further abroad. They would probably just stay on the Continent, but it was always best to be prepared.</p><p>They also made a detailed list of all the supplies they had to get before they left. Most items on that list were things they would need to continue their education, like textbooks and potion supplies. Even more important, however, were enchanted bags to store their belongings, and the wizarding tent for them to live in.</p><p>But Hermione felt confident that she and Harry would be able to get everything they needed. She had seen the store in Diagon Alley that sold wizarding tents before, and she knew that it would be possible to buy a tent that was equipped with almost everything one needed to live in it. That greatly reduced the number of things they would have to buy separately. And any non-magical items they might need could easily be acquired on their travels.</p><p>All in all, their plan became more and more concrete over the following days. Spending that much time on research was taxing, especially for Harry, but Hermione was confident that their effort would be worth it.</p><p>They were also falling behind with their schoolwork, but she knew that it wouldn't matter in a week. Harry had been quite surprised when she had agreed with him that they should stop doing any homework assignments that were due only after their planned departure date. All time ordinarily spent on writing essays was now dedicated to their preparations.</p><p>During lessons, they only had to put up a token effort to not draw any attention to themselves. If any of the staff noticed her and Harry's drop in performance, Hermione hoped that the teachers would blame it on preparations for the tournament.</p><p>By Friday, Hermione felt that they had everything planned out as well as it could be. That evening, they sat huddled in a quiet corner of the Gryffindor common room, talking quietly among themselves to not be overheard.</p><p>"All right, is the list complete now?" Harry asked with a small smile.</p><p>"Yes, I'm done with it," she confirmed. Just that evening, she had added the last potions and potion ingredients that they might need.</p><p>"Anything new that we need to get in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Harry asked.</p><p>"We should try to get some potion supplies in Hogsmeade, yes," Hermione replied. "Apart from that, it's still the books, mostly. And the bags, so that we can travel lightly without big trunks on your broom. I think a handbag for me and a backpack for you, both with Undetectable Expansion Charms, would work best. When we have that, we have to buy all the textbooks for the subjects up to seventh year, so that we can continue our studies independently. But I think that's all. Those are the most important things, apart from the tent."</p><p>"And we'll get that Tuesday morning in Diagon Alley," Harry added.</p><p>"Right," Hermione said and began to reiterate their plan one more time. "Late in the evening on Monday, we leave here, disguise ourselves, floo from the Three Broomsticks to the Leaky Cauldron and get a room there for the night. Then, we go to Gringotts as soon as they open in the morning, exchange some Galleons into Pounds, or maybe French Francs, and buy a magical tent in Diagon Alley."</p><p>Harry nodded along. "And then," he continued, "we fly with the Firebolt over the Channel and we'll be in France before lunch."</p><p>"And once we're in France, we stay below the radar, and never go near any magical areas without a good disguise. We'll live in the tent, and we'll travel all over Europe and just go wherever we want to go," Hermione finished.</p><p>"Great," Harry said with a grin. "So, Hogsmeade tomorrow. And then, three more days."</p><p>"Yes, three more days..." Hermione repeated, returning the smile.</p><p>Harry nodded, his eyes shining with anticipation. "I can't wait."</p><p>"Neither can I," she replied brightly.</p><p>And it was true. She really couldn't wait to get away. There would be no more drama and rumour mongering, no more danger and assassination attempts, and no more interfering adults whatsoever. Only the two of them, learning magic at their own pace, travelling around Europe and exploring foreign magical communities, and hopefully growing much, much closer to each other in the process. It would be brilliant. She just knew it.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to Proton6 and WH Rutledge for proofreading and improving this chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Midnight Confessions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER FOUR -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Midnight Confessions</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Harry and Hermione were among the first students to leave the castle and make their way to Hogsmeade the next morning.</p><p>As they walked towards the village at a leisurely pace, they discussed where they would go first.</p><p>"So, we buy the bags now?" Harry asked.</p><p>"Yes," Hermione agreed. "And then we can try to gather all the books, potions and potion supplies on our list..."</p><p>"All right," Harry replied, but then he furrowed his brows. "The only thing is... Don't you think it will look suspicious when we buy all this stuff? People might suspect something..."</p><p>"Huh..." Hermione muttered, pondering the question. Harry might have a point, there. But she hoped that the other students wouldn't pay close attention to what Harry and she would be buying.</p><p>"Well, it probably won't be noticed," she replied and chuckled. "Besides, people won't think that there's anything strange about me buying a lot of books... If anyone asks, we'll tell them it's for tournament preparations..."</p><p>"Right," Harry agreed with a nod. "I guess that makes sense..."</p><p>It was barely past nine when they entered the High Street of Hogsmeade where most of the shops were located. There were almost no other students in the street yet, but the shops were open already.</p><p>Conveniently, their first stop, Dervish &amp; Banges, was one of the first shops on the street. It sold all kinds of magical instruments, antiques, and other knickknacks, and as such it was probably the best place for them to find enchanted bags for their travels.</p><p>A gong sounded as Harry and Hermione stepped inside the shop and approached the deserted counter at the far-side of the room. Hermione had been in the shop before, but she found herself once more fascinated by all the swirling gadgets and obscure devices that were piling on high shelves all around her.</p><p>"I'm here, I'm here!" a female voice sounded from a backroom behind the counter, and a young woman appeared from it a moment later.</p><p>"Good morning," the blonde woman greeted them, "what can I- Oh, Mister Potter! What an honour! How can I help you?"</p><p>Hermione noted how Harry frowned slightly in response to the overly enthusiastic greeting, his cheeks taking on a pink tinge. Even though she could sympathise with him to some extent, Hermione still couldn't hide a small smirk at Harry's apparent discomfort. It really was a bit adorable the way he hated being recognised, but at the same time, she loved him for it. He wouldn't be the boy she loved otherwise.</p><p>She also realised that it might have been better for Harry to stay under his Invisibility Cloak for their shopping. The last thing they needed was that rumours started circulating about him buying travel supplies.</p><p>"It's actually me who's looking for something," she spoke up quickly. "I'm looking for some presents for some friends, you see. Do you have space expanded bags that can hold a lot of objects without getting heavier?"</p><p>"Ah, you have to be the girlfriend, then!" the witch answered brightly. "You've come to the right place, we have a good assortment of enchanted bags that I can show you."</p><p>Harry gave off a small groan. "She's- Hermione's not-"</p><p>"Don't worry, Mr Potter, I can keep a secret," the woman behind the counter interrupted him and smirked. "Though... It's really not much of a secret, after your interview with the Prophet now, is it?"</p><p>Not giving Harry any chance for a retort, the storekeeper then turned around to gather some bags from different shelves and drawers.</p><p>Hermione shared a look with the highly embarrassed boy, feeling a bit bad about her own amusement over the situation.</p><p>"Just ignore it," she whispered to him, even though it was the last thing she wanted him to do. She hoped that he would actually take heed of all the comments about their supposed relationship and start to think about it more seriously. And with the look he was giving her now, a look she couldn't quite place, she wondered if she could dare to hope that they were making progress there.</p><p>Any reply Harry might have given her was forestalled when the storekeeper returned to them a few moments later.</p><p>Harry and Hermione then spent some time looking at different enchanted backpacks, handbags, and pouches. In the end, they decided on buying one backpack, one purse, and two moneybags, all with Undetectable Extension Charms and basic anti-theft enchantments.</p><p>The four pieces cost twenty-eight Galleons in total. Hermione noted that Harry frowned a bit when he heard the price, but he still counted out the right amount of Galleons and handed them over.</p><p>They were just about to leave the shop when the storekeeper leaned over the counter towards them.</p><p>"Just one last bit of advice, Mr Potter," she called out, giving him a conspiratorial wink. "If you don't want people to know that this young lady is your girlfriend, you really shouldn't pay for her shopping."</p><p>With that, the woman waved them goodbye, chuckling as Harry blushed crimson.</p><p>Hermione only rolled her eyes in response. She was a bit annoyed by the storekeeper's attitude, but if it would help Harry to realise that she was a girl and start thinking about her in a less platonic way, it would be all good in her book. The ends really justified the means there.</p><p>Harry was still rather flustered when they stepped out into the still empty street.</p><p>"That- She... We... I mean- How can she-" he sputtered indignantly as soon as they closed the door of the shop behind them.</p><p>"Harry!" Hermione interrupted him. "Haven't we decided that we would ignore all these comments?"</p><p>"Right," Harry grumbled, calming down slowly. "But it's still annoying. I just wish people would stay out of our private lives. Why can't they leave us alone?"</p><p>"Hey," she said consolingly and reached for his hand. "It's only two more days, remember?"</p><p>That seemed to be the right thing to say, as Harry's mood perked up immediately.</p><p>"Right," he agreed and smiled at her. "Two more days. I can manage that."</p><p>"Good," Hermione replied with a nod. "So, should we get the books?"</p><p>"Ah..." Harry hesitated, a frown taking form on his face. "About that... I think we have a small problem..."</p><p>"What is it?" she asked with confusion.</p><p>"Uhm, well... The bags were a bit more expensive than I thought," Harry said sheepishly. "I don't think I have enough money for the rest. I-"</p><p>"What?" Hermione exclaimed, feeling her panic rise. "But- but didn't you say that you have more than enough money? If it- when it's not even enough for this..."</p><p>"Oh, I have enough money at Gringotts," Harry clarified. "It's just... I just don't have enough with me right now. You know... Between the Omnioculars I bought at the Quidditch World Cup, and the bags now, I only have a few Galleons left..."</p><p>"Oh..." Hermione muttered. Internally, she chided herself for forgetting such an important detail. She really should have thought of that before.</p><p>"How much do you have?" she asked timidly.</p><p>"Uhm..." Harry mumbled and rummaged in his pockets, fishing out some coins.</p><p>"Four Galleons and... eleven Sickles," he then counted out the money in his palm.</p><p>Hermione sighed and pulled her own purse out of her pocket and counted the coins in it, even though she knew that she wouldn't be able to contribute much.</p><p>"Right..." she said. "And I can only add two more Galleons... and seven Sickles and four Knuts to the pot... I guess we'll have to prioritize..."</p><p>Harry nodded reluctantly. "What supplies are the most important?"</p><p>"I hoped that I could get some Ageing Potion to disguise myself when we leave," Hermione answered. "I could also use some charms, but the potion would probably be best. Polyjuice would be even better, of course, but it's more restricted. We also couldn't brew it ourselves in time. So, we'd need the Ageing Potion before we leave on Monday evening... The rest... I guess everything else we could also buy at Diagon Alley after we've been to Gringotts..."</p><p>"They might be looking for us there," Harry pointed out, frowning slightly. "We really should try to be as quick as possible in Diagon Alley..."</p><p>"I know," Hermione said with exasperation. "I know. It's too obvious a place for us to go. But what else can we do? We won't find a lot of English books in France. Though we might be able to buy the potions and potion ingredients there..."</p><p>Harry nodded, and they both stayed quiet for a while as they pondered the problem.</p><p>"Well..." Harry hesitantly spoke up after a while, giving her an apprehensive look. "Maybe... Maybe there is another way to get everything before we leave... But you won't like it..."</p><p>"Yes?" Hermione asked with curiosity. "What do you have in mind?"</p><p>"Well... We... we could just take the books from the Hogwarts library right before we leave..."</p><p>Hermione swirled around to face him, giving him a hard look.</p><p>"Did you- are you suggesting that we <em>rob </em>the <em>library</em>?" she asked with indignation.</p><p>"Well, uhm... Yeah?" Harry admitted a bit reluctantly. "I mean, think about it! It would make sense! If we take the books at night right before we leave, nothing would be noticed before they know that we're gone anyway. And everything we need will be right there..."</p><p>Hermione stared at Harry in disbelief as he gave his explanation. <em>Robbing</em> a <em>library</em>? She was outraged by his sacrilegious suggestion!</p><p>She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to come up with a sufficiently scathing retort, but as she repeated Harry's words in her mind, she couldn't stop herself from actually considering his idea. Would it really be that crazy, compared to what they were planning to do already? It really was a convenient solution for their problem. The Hogwarts library certainly would be the best place to get all the books they needed.</p><p>Besides, Harry had saved the entire school twice over. Were a few books really too much to ask for in return? Also, they could return the books eventually. They would just lend them out a bit longer than usual.</p><p>"Huh...You know what?" she said after a while, surprised with herself at the conclusion she had reached. "Fine. We can do that. It's probably what will work best..."</p><p>Harry grinned at her and nodded excitedly.</p><p>"But we'll return the books once we're back in Britain!" Hermione added quickly, giving the boy a stern look.</p><p>"Of course, Hermione," he agreed easily. "And can we do the same about the potions? Just take some from Snape's supply?"</p><p>Hermione sighed. "Well, I guess... It's not as if we hadn't done that before in our second year..."</p><p>"Right," Harry said with a smirk.</p><p>"We still need to come up with a plan on how we can get into the potions classroom without alerting Snape," Hermione pointed out.</p><p>"Of course," Harry replied. "Should we go to the next shop, then?"</p><p>Hermione nodded and they made their way down the High Street to the Bobbins &amp; Sons Apothecary, a shop that sold all kinds of potions and ingredients.</p><p>Harry decided not to go inside this time, trying to avoid a repeat of the spectacle at Dervish &amp; Banges, so Hermione entered the shop by herself.</p><p>She spent four of their remaining six Galleons on one vial each of Ageing Potion and its antidote. Under other circumstances, she might have wondered why the apothecary sold such potions in the first place, or how they could be sold to minors with no restrictions, but by now, these things no longer surprised her about the wizarding world. She was just glad that she had gotten what they needed.</p><p>With their planned shopping trip cut short due to their low budget, Harry and Hermione then decided to just take a stroll through Hogsmeade for the rest of the morning to enjoy the scenery one last time.</p><p>Hermione had to admit that Hogsmeade truly was a picturesque village, even on a grey November morning like this one. It was just too bad that it was part of a world as backwards and outright stupid as Magical Britain. And the Hogwarts students that were now crowding the streets weren't helping matters either, with their incessantly belligerent remarks directed towards Harry and her.</p><p>Still, she and Harry had an enjoyable time in the town. Unfortunately, even a liberal application of warming charms couldn't quite ward off the chill of the cold air and brisk winds of the Scottish Highlands in November.</p><p>"Should we have lunch and one last Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks?" Harry suggested as noon approached, and frozen as she was, Hermione readily agreed.</p><p>They made their way towards the bar. Inside, they found themselves a table in a quiet corner where they would hopefully be left alone for their meal.</p><p>They had just ordered their lunch with Madam Rosmerta and received their Butterbeers when a booming voice sounded from behind them.</p><p>"Harry, Hermione!" someone called out, and as Hermione turned around, she saw Hagrid approaching them, with Professor Moody trailing a few steps behind him.</p><p>"Hagrid, Professor Moody," Hermione greeted the two men cordially.</p><p>"Good ter see yeh!" Hagrid said cheerfully.</p><p>"Hey, Hagrid," Harry replied. "How are you doing?"</p><p>"Ah, I'm fine, Harry. Just been having a drink with Alastor here. How are yeh? I hope yer not worrying too much 'bout the tournament?"</p><p>"I... I'm all right..." Harry replied with a shrug.</p><p>Hagrid then bent down towards the teens. "Listen, Harry," he whispered, "meet me at me cabin at midnight tonight. And bring yer cloak!"</p><p>He winked at Harry and straightened back up.</p><p>"Well, we've got ter go," he announced loudly, "It's been nice ter see yeh, Harry, Hermione. See yer 'round!"</p><p>"Bye," Hermione and Harry replied in unison, sharing a confused look as Hagrid and Moody departed.</p><p>"What was that all about?" Hermione wondered with a low voice.</p><p>"Do you reckon it's about the First Task?" Harry speculated.</p><p>"Probably," Hermione agreed. "Do you realise what that means?"</p><p>"Yeah," Harry confirmed with a grim nod. "It means that Hagrid is involved in the preparations for the task... So it probably involves some of his creatures..."</p><p>"Yes, and that's what he wants to show you tonight," Hermione whispered back. "And you realise that he apparently thinks he has to warn you? That means even <em>Hagrid</em> thinks it's dangerous!"</p><p>"Oh... wow..." Harry gulped. "I think I've made the right decision, then... Even if I hadn't been convinced before, I would be now. I'll leave."</p><p>"Good," she said emphatically. "And it's 'we', Harry. <em>We</em>'ll leave."</p><p>"Yes... yes, I know..." he replied with a smile. "Thank you..."</p><p>There was a small pause between them before Harry spoke up again. "I... I won't go to that meeting with Hagrid, right?"</p><p>"Do you <em>want</em> to have another adventure in the Forbidden Forest at night?" Hermione asked him sardonically.</p><p>Harry snorted. "No. No, I don't. I think I had enough of those already..."</p><p>"Then don't go," Hermione said, much relieved that Harry was reasonable about this. "It's not as if you'll learn anything of relevance. We'll leave no matter what horrible creature they want you to fight."</p><p>"Yeah," Harry agreed. "And I don't want to risk missing the talk with Sirius."</p><p>"That, too," Hermione agreed and took a sip from her Butterbeer.</p><p>Any further discussion was cut short by Madam Rosmerta bringing them their orders to the table. After the delicious lunch, Harry and Hermione decided to simply return to the castle early. There wasn't anything left for them to do in the village.</p><p>They left the Three Broomsticks and walked back to the school, where they returned to the Gryffindor common room. As most of the older students were spending their entire day at Hogsmeade, the common room was rather empty and Harry and Hermione were left in peace. Though, in fairness, things had been bearable for them within Gryffindor, anyway. It was mostly the students of the other Houses that were bothering them.</p><p>Since there was nothing left for them to prepare for their escape, they spent the afternoon reading and playing Exploding Snap. Hermione usually would have been quite content spending the entire rest of the day with a book in an armchair in front of the fireplace, but she knew that reading for hours on end wasn't Harry's favourite pastime activity. If they were to run away together, she would bore him to death if she did nothing in her free time but read books. And the card game was fun enough, anyway.</p><p>Harry and Hermione passed the evening in the same way, with them playing games, reading, and talking quietly among themselves while the common room first filled, then slowly emptied of students as the evening progressed. It was getting late and they were getting tired, but they had to stay up until the meeting with Sirius would take place at one in the morning. How exactly Sirius would make an appearance, they didn't know.</p><p>By midnight, Harry and Hermione were the only students left in the common room. Shortly after the last student had left the room, Hermione laid aside the book that she had been reading, getting too sleepy to concentrate on the text.</p><p>She sighed and leaned back into the couch, turning a bit sideways to look at Harry, who sat next to her. He was idly staring into the flames of the fireplace in front of them, a pensive expression on his face.</p><p>"What are you thinking, Harry?" she wondered.</p><p>It took Harry several long moments to reply.</p><p>"Just thinking..." he said slowly. "You know, if it wasn't for you, I'd be meeting with Hagrid now..."</p><p>Hermione frowned. "I thought you agreed-"</p><p>"I do," he interrupted her. "I don't want to be there... I just... I can't help but wonder what it would be, you know? What monster I'd have to fight..."</p><p>"Now you won't have to fight it," she said evenly, unsure where Harry was going with this.</p><p>"No, I won't..." he confirmed with a small smile. "And... And it's because of you... What you've done... I figure you've probably saved my life..."</p><p>Hermione smiled back at him. "Maybe. But you have saved my life before, Harry... And at much greater risk to yourself, I might add."</p><p>Harry shrugged and frowned again. "Well, maybe... but still..."</p><p>"What is it, Harry?" she asked quietly.</p><p>"I- I'm sorry," he said, giving her a questioning look. "It's just... I just don't understand..."</p><p>"What, Harry?"</p><p>"<em>You</em>... You're doing so much, and I really appreciate it, but I don't understand... I don't understand <em>you</em>." He exhaled deeply and shook his head. "Are you really sure you'll come with me? Leave everything behind? Your education? Even your parents?"</p><p>"<em>Yes</em>, Harry," she assured him with some exasperation. "How many times do I have to say this?"</p><p>There was a pause, during which Harry gave her a long, searching look.</p><p>"<em>Why</em>?" he then asked with some emphasis.</p><p>Looking back at him, Hermione sighed internally. Harry just didn't get it.</p><p>But then, she decided that maybe, maybe it was time for her to make him understand. Maybe, it was time for her to be honest with him, time for her to be brave, to be a Gryffindor.</p><p>"Because..." she said softly and scooted closer to him on the couch, turning so that she was facing him. "I said it before, Harry. I won't leave you alone. I'll be with you as long as you'll have me. I..."</p><p>Hermione took a deep breath. Slowly, she leaned towards him, resting one hand on his shoulder, and after a short hesitation, she briefly brushed her lips against his.</p><p>She drew back before Harry could react, though even several moments later he still hadn't moved at all and only stared back at her with wide eyes.</p><p>Hermione gulped nervously, unsure what to make of his reaction, but she was past the point of no return, anyway, so she might as well get it all out in the open.</p><p>"I... I love you," she whispered. "I'd be helping you either way, and I'll help you no matter what... but if you want to know the main reason why I'll happily leave with you, this is it... it's because I love you..."</p><p>Feeling both relieved for finally having said it, and apprehensive of how he would respond, she timidly looked at Harry, trying to gauge his reaction. He seemed to be lost for words, but he didn't move away from her, either.</p><p>"You... you love me?" he finally repeated in a tone she couldn't quite place.</p><p>"Yes, I do," she said softly, finding it difficult to keep looking at him. "I love you. I'm in love with you. Probably have been since the end of the last school year. Maybe longer. I've had a crush on you for much longer. For the entire second year, I suppose. You don't have to say anything, it's all right. I don't expe- hmphh!"</p><p>She was interrupted in her ramblings when Harry suddenly leaned towards her, closed the distance between them, and brought his lips crashing down onto hers.</p><p>He was kissing her! <em>Yes yes yes yes yes!</em> Harry was really kissing her! He- <em>Start kissing him back, stupid! </em>another part of her mind interrupted her jubilant thoughts, and she immediately proceeded to follow through on that brilliant advice, deepening the kiss and pressing her lips firmly against his.</p><p>They were a bit clumsy, of course, this being their very first real kiss after all – she was pretty certain that it was also Harry's first – but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.</p><p>What did it matter that their noses were bumping repeatedly as they adjusted their postures, or that they were each still trying to find the perfect position and pressure for their lips' interplay as they exchanged some more probing kisses? The soft sensations as their lips danced with each other were already mind-blowing, wonderful, and so much better than what she ever could have imagined.</p><p>Soon, Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer towards him, just like she pulled him towards her, with her right hand cupping his cheek and her left on the nape of his neck, her fingers interlacing with his hair. She ended up half leaning against him and half lying on top of him on the couch, and the contact of their bodies only made things even more enjoyable.</p><p>She didn't know how long it took until they finally separated – to her it somehow felt like a nanosecond and a million years both – but eventually they moved apart again, each breathing heavily.</p><p>"Wow!" Harry muttered, giving her a dazed smile.</p><p>"Yeah... wow..." Hermione repeated, having difficulties to start thinking straight again. Though, right now, she felt that the ability to think straight was overrated anyway and wouldn't have minded to just continue with their snogging session.</p><p>Harry, however, apparently had other plans.</p><p>"I..." he began slowly, his expression growing more serious, "What you said... I guess you really deserve an answer..."</p><p>"You've given me a pretty good answer already," she said dreamily and giggled. <em>She giggled</em>? Hermione Granger didn't giggle! She was shocked with herself.</p><p>"Yes... no..." Harry chuckled. " I... I mean an actual answer."</p><p>"You don't have to-" Hermione began.</p><p>"No, I do," he disagreed. "I- I'm not good at this. But... Hermione, you..."</p><p>He took a deep breath. "Do you... Do you know that you're the first person I can remember to ever give me a hug? Since our first year, you've always been there for me, and I've really not appreciated it enough... I... You know, I feel terrible about it now, especially for how I treated you last year over a silly broom-"</p><p>She wanted to interrupt and tell him that it was all right and that she had been as much at fault as him, but Harry continued on.</p><p>"But even... even with me being a git, you've always been there for me, and you've done so much, you're still helping me even now when everyone else has- when no one else does, and... with all of this... I know- have known for a while... that you're the most important person in my life..."</p><p>Hermione smiled back at him as she knew that he held the same position for her.</p><p>"You're the most important person in my life," Harry repeated, "and- and you're smart and you're pretty, and... I'm sorry that it took me so long to realise what that means, but... I love you, Hermione... I love you, too."</p><p>With her eyes shining from happiness, Hermione leaned against him again.</p><p>"That was perfect, Harry," she whispered and gave him a soft peck on the lips. "Thank you..."</p><p>She gave him another peck. "I love you, too... I love you so much..."</p><p>And with that, she pressed her lips against his more forcefully, and this time, Harry happily reciprocated the kiss.</p><p>He pulled back only a few seconds later, however, far too soon to her liking, but he apparently had another question to ask.</p><p>Gathering his breath, Harry grinned at her. "Does... does that mean that you're my girlfriend now?"</p><p>"Do you really think I'd kiss anyone but my boyfriend like that?" Hermione asked coyly and gave him another deep but brief kiss. "Oh, and just to be clear, that was a 'Yes'. That's most definitely what this means."</p><p>"Brilliant," Harry muttered, his smile widening before he closed the distance between them again.</p><p>She was soon draped over him once more, but before their kissing could grow more heated again, they were interrupted by a loud noise.</p><p>"Ahem!" someone cleared his throat, and the teens jolted apart, looking around in the empty common room with confusion.</p><p>There was another cough, and Hermione thought that it almost sounded as the noise had originated from the fireplace this time. She looked into the flames, only to be shocked at what she saw. The head of Sirius Black seemed to emerge from the embers of the fireplace. The old Marauder was looking straight at her, a roguish grin on his face.</p><p>"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed when he spotted his godfather.</p><p>"Hey, Harry! I'm terribly sorry to interrupt..." Sirius said with a wide smirk, not sounding at all as if he meant it.</p><p>"You weren't interrupting anything!" Harry sputtered, his face flushing crimson. Hermione also felt her cheeks heating up slightly.</p><p>"Of course not," Sirius laughed, clearly having a hard time holding back some further comments.</p><p>"Well, it's good to see you, Harry," he then said brightly. "And also, Hermione... Granger, was it? Or is it Potter already?"</p><p>"Sirius..." Harry growled, and Hermione felt the temperature of her cheeks rise further.</p><p>"Sorry, sorry," Sirius replied, chuckling. "I'll stop it now, I promise. Well, tell me, how are you doing?"</p><p>Over the next minutes, they exchanged some pleasantries and Sirius told them that he had managed to get access to a fireplace with a connection to the Floo network that he was using now. Harry and Hermione then informed Harry's godfather of the recent happenings at school, but they soon decided to cut to the chase.</p><p>"Now... you know, Sirius..." Harry began. "We were hoping that you could maybe help us with something..."</p><p>"Oh?" Sirius asked, visibly intrigued. "I'd be happy to. Does that mean you know what the task will be?"</p><p>"We..." Harry started but then paused, a small frown forming on his face.</p><p>"Let's just say that we have some suspicions," Hermione took over, knowing how difficult it would be for Harry to lie to his godfather. "We're not supposed to know, so let's leave it at that."</p><p>Sirius chuckled. "Right... You would have made very good Marauders, you two! But that doesn't matter right now, what is it you need my help with?"</p><p>"Well..." Hermione began hesitantly. "We... We have a rough idea on what the task will be, and we know how to keep Harry safe. But there are some charms that we'll need for that. We were hoping that maybe you could help us with some of our research..."</p><p>She felt a bit bad about what she said, though she hadn't told any lies, strictly speaking. But she certainly did invite Sirius to draw the wrong conclusions from her statements. Putting the matter out of her mind, Hermione went on. "We were looking into methods for obscuring the location of a person, as Harry will need something like that, and seeing as you're probably using such charms while you're on the run, we hoped that you could help..."</p><p>"Obscure a location?" Sirius repeated, sounding a bit confused. "You mean like a Disillusionment Charm?"</p><p>"No, no, we mean... uhm... could you maybe tell us what charms and other methods you use to not be tracked by owls, spells, house-elves, and so on?" Hermione asked.</p><p>"Huh..." Sirius frowned. "That's... Sure, that's not too difficult... But why would you need that for the task?"</p><p>"Uhm... well, as I said, I'd rather not talk about it aloud right now," Hermione answered. "Harry is not supposed to know about the task."</p><p>"Well, all right," Sirius said. "There is a basic anti-tracking charm, the <em>Abscondam </em>Charm, that would stop owls or other creatures from locating Harry magically. You should find it in the seventh-year Charms textbook. But it won't stop creatures from spotting you with their eyes or so! You're not truly hidden with that charm, you just can't be located from afar."</p><p>"Yes, that's perfect," Harry replied.</p><p>"It's exactly what we need," Hermione concurred. "Is that what you're using now?"</p><p>"Well, no, not quite," Sirius answered. "I used it at first, but now I had to use a more advanced version of it to allow some owls from certain individuals to reach me." He winked at Harry.</p><p>"But that makes the magic involved quite complicated," Sirius continued. "I doubt that you could work it out before the task. And I doubt that you'll need it."</p><p>"No, we won't," Hermione confirmed. "Thank you, Sirius, that was a great help!"</p><p>Harry nodded. "Yes, thank you."</p><p>"Does the <em>Abscondam </em>Charm work against everything?" Hermione asked.</p><p>"Well... not quite..." Sirius began slowly. "But I don't think the exceptions will matter for you. If someone has a drop of your blood, there are dark rituals that can be used to track you. A true seer could also scry your location. But the more common things won't work. Creatures like owls or house-elves won't find you, nor will a Message Patronus or a Point-me spell work, and so on..."</p><p>"Would it conceal the trace?" Harry wondered.</p><p>"Huh, now that's an interesting idea..." Sirius chuckled. "I don't know. The Ministry only detects the location where underage magic is used. And if the location of the person is concealed, is the location of their spell-casting, too...? Huh, I have to say I don't know... I would advise against testing it, though, if you don't want to have it on your permanent record..."</p><p>"Right," Hermione agreed. "Well, thank you, Sirius, you helped us a lot with that!"</p><p>"You're welcome," Sirius replied happily. "Now, what else is new with you, aside from the obvious?"</p><p>They continued to talk for almost half an hour before Sirius informed them that he had to go and they hastily said their goodbyes.</p><p>When Sirius ended the Floo call, Harry slumped back into the couch, and Hermione could see his guilt about their deception.</p><p>"I'm sorry that we had to lie to Sirius," she said consolingly and wrapped him in a tight hug.</p><p>Harry sighed. "I didn't like it... but it was necessary, I get it... Just... Let's please try to find a way to keep in touch with him?"</p><p>"Of course," she assured him. "We'll think of something, I promise..."</p><p>Harry nodded and yawned. "Good... At least we got the information we needed."</p><p>"Yes, we did," Hermione agreed softly and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open.</p><p>"We still have to learn the spell, though," she muttered. "It's a seventh-year charm. I don't know if a fourth-year student can learn it within two days..."</p><p>She felt that she should be more worried about this, but she was just too tired to care right now.</p><p>Harry, however, only gave off a small chuckle. "Any random fourth-year? No. But you? Come on, Hermione! You'll have it done within an hour, if you'll even need that long!"</p><p>"Well... maybe... I hope you're right..." Hermione replied and snuggled closer into him.</p><p>"I know it. You're amazing, Hermione," Harry said softly and lightly kissed her temple.</p><p>"You're pretty amazing too, Harry," Hermione whispered back, a small, content smile taking form on her lips as her eyes fluttered shut. Listening to Harry's even breathing and his heartbeat, she felt herself gliding into sleep.</p><p>"We... we should get up... to our dorms..." she heard Harry speak up once more after a small pause.</p><p>"Mhm... yes... yes, we... should..." Hermione mumbled in response. Two deep breaths later, sleep finally claimed her.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to Proton6 and WH Rutledge for alpha and beta reading this chapter and making it much better! If you liked the fluff and are in the mood for an even more fluffy story now, check out Proton6's new story "From the World Beyond", his response to the Jily meets Harmony Challenge, where James and Lily return from beyond the Veil shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Farewell, Hogwarts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER FIVE -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Farewell, Hogwarts</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Hermione glided down the stairwell from her dormitory, wearing her elegant periwinkle-blue dress. It was the night of the Yule Ball, and the festivities were about to start.</p><p>Harry was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, dressed in a black tuxedo. He looked positively dashing in the tux, especially since he had forgone wearing a shirt under it.</p><p>They smiled at each other as she approached him, and they shared a tender kiss. When they parted, the orchestra started to play, and Harry led her towards the dance floor in the centre of the Great Hall.</p><p>They began to dance, moving in perfect sync to the music and each other, much to the admiration of the surrounding crowd. She and Harry glided over the dance floor with graceful movements, and as she pivoted around, her red flamenco dress whirled around her.</p><p>The ease of their dance surprised Hermione, considering that she had never actually learnt to dance, but it probably had something to do with the fact that she and Harry were literally gliding over the floor, their feet never quite touching the ground.</p><p>After a while, the music slowed down, and she and Harry stopped their wild dancing. They only held each other close and swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the songs.</p><p>When the music finally faded out, Harry took a step back from Hermione and reached for her hand. With her hand in his and his eyes never leaving hers, he got down on one knee before her.</p><p>Dressed in her white gown, Hermione stood with bated breath, anticipating his next words. At the same time, the hall seemed to get brighter all around her.</p><p>"Hermione," Harry said and paused dramatically, giving her a tender smile. "You have to get up."</p><p>"Huh?" Hermione mumbled and blinked while the room lit up even more. A brilliant, almost blinding light was radiating from seemingly everywhere and permeating everything.</p><p>"You have to get up!" Harry's voice repeated, a bit more urgently this time.</p><p>"Don't wanna," Hermione groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She was lying on the couch, cuddled against Harry, her arms wrapped around his torso and her head resting on his chest.</p><p>She turned her head to look at Harry, who was smiling at her while he gently stroked her back with the hand that wasn't trapped under her.</p><p>"Morning," she mumbled with a small pout, frowning slightly at him.</p><p>Harry's smile fell as he looked at her.</p><p>"What's wrong, Hermione?" he asked, clearly worried. "Did I do something wrong? I swear I didn't-"</p><p>Hermione snorted. "Don't be silly... You just interrupted a perfectly fine dream..."</p><p>"Ah, well," Harry said with a relieved chuckle. "I'm sorry. But it'd probably be best to get up before people start coming down here... It's almost seven in the morning, people will get up soon..."</p><p>"Right," Hermione sighed. Groggily, she disentangled herself from Harry and sat up on the couch. After only five hours of sleep, she still felt rather tired. But she knew that Harry was right. They really needed to get going before the rest of the House woke up.</p><p>Harry rose from the couch and held out his hand to help her up. He pulled her upright and as she got to her feet in front of him, Hermione quickly leaned forward to give him a small peck on the lips.</p><p>"Let's meet back here in thirty minutes?" she asked her boyfriend – her <em>boyfriend</em>! She still couldn't quite believe it. She expected that it would take her a while until she stopped doubting it and no longer wondered whether she was still dreaming.</p><p>"Sure," Harry replied with a soft smile, and Hermione's heart fluttered as she could see that he was just as happy as she was about their newfound relationship.</p><p>They walked towards the stairwell to the dormitories, but before they reached it, Hermione heard steps descending the stairs from the girls' dormitories.</p><p>She cursed internally when Ginny Weasley came into view from around the spiral staircase moments later and entered the common room, only to freeze when she spotted Hermione and Harry right in front of her. The couple also halted their steps, looking awkwardly at the redhead.</p><p>Ginny took in their appearance, and Hermione knew that the girl wouldn't miss her and Harry's dishevelled robes, nor the closeness with which they stood next to each other.</p><p>The younger girl caught Hermione's eyes, and Hermione only gave a small nod to answer Ginny's unasked question, giving her a sympathetic look.</p><p>The redhead grimaced in response. With trembling lips, she lowered her gaze to the floor and hurried past the couple towards the exit of the common room, clearly having trouble keeping her countenance.</p><p>Even though Hermione had hardly interacted with the girl since they had returned to Hogwarts, she still felt bad for her. She knew of Ginny's crush on Harry, of course, and could imagine how devastated the girl had to feel now. She had gotten along splendidly with Ginny over the summer during her time with the Weasleys and thought that they were maybe not close friends, but at least good acquaintances.</p><p>"Let me talk to her," Hermione said to Harry, who was still looking at the portrait hole where Ginny had left the common room, a confused expression on his face.</p><p>"Huh?" he asked. "What... what was-?"</p><p>"Don't worry about it," Hermione interrupted him. "You can go freshen up. Let's just meet back here in a bit."</p><p>With that, she dashed out of the common room, leaving a befuddled Harry standing behind her. Ginny hadn't gotten far and it only took Hermione a few steps to catch up with the girl.</p><p>"Ginny?" she called out and approached the redhead. She could spot the tears in Ginny's eyes as the girl turned towards her. "Listen... I-"</p><p>"I'm not mad at you, Hermione," Ginny interrupted her sourly, keeping her eyes downcast.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Hermione said softly. "It wasn't my intention to hurt you."</p><p>"I know... I know!" Ginny exclaimed, a pained expression on her face. "We're all right, Hermione, really! I'll get over it, don't worry."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Ginny," Hermione said again, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder and giving her a light squeeze.</p><p>"It's all right," Ginny assured her and sighed. "But... thank you."</p><p>"Just..." the redhead added, looking up at Hermione and giving her a weak smile. "Just try... try not to snog Harry right in front of me, all right? At least for a few weeks?"</p><p>"I... That..." Hermione sighed, suddenly feeling a bit guilty. "That won't be an issue, I promise..."</p><p>Ginny cocked her head at her, but then she exhaled deeply and nodded. "All right... Thanks... I guess I'll see you around..."</p><p>"Yeah," Hermione replied weakly and watched after Ginny as she left towards the Great Hall for breakfast. That had gone well, Hermione thought to herself, all things considered. Much better than she could have expected, really. It was nice to see that she and Harry still had a friend in Hogwarts.</p><p>Not that it would matter a day from now, Hermione thought as she returned to the common room and walked up the stairs to her dormitory.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>Freshly showered and looking presentable again, Hermione met Harry in the common room a short while later.</p><p>After breakfast, they once more retreated to their secluded corner in the library, and Hermione looked up the Hiding Charm that Sirius had told them about the evening before.</p><p>After she had read the instructions on the spell in the seventh-year Charms textbook, Hermione felt confident that she would be able to learn it in time. The wand movements and pronunciation of the incantation were easy enough to work out, only the visualisation of the intended result was a bit more challenging.</p><p>In the end, it didn't take her very long until she felt that she was ready to try out the spell.</p><p>"All right," she said to Harry, who was sitting next to her, engrossed in another book on travelling in wizarding Europe. "I think we can test it now."</p><p>"You need me to volunteer as a guinea pig?" Harry asked with a grin.</p><p>"I could cast the spell on myself, too," Hermione replied. "But it will be easier to see if it works if I cast it on you."</p><p>"Sure," Harry said with a shrug and fully turned towards her. "Go ahead."</p><p>Hermione nodded and drew her wand, holding it flat in her palm.</p><p>"I'll cast a Point-Me Spells to check if the charm is working," she explained to Harry before she did the spell.</p><p>"<em>Point Me Harry Potter</em>," she whispered, and her wand spun around in her palm once and came to a halt when it pointed straight at Harry.</p><p>"Right," Hermione muttered and looked at the description in the textbook one last time.</p><p>With her brows furrowed in concentration, she then moved her wand in an intricate pattern over her boyfriend and incanted, "<em>Abscondam loco omnino</em>!"</p><p>"Did it work?" Harry asked when there was no light, nor any other indication that the spell had taken hold.</p><p>"We'll see," Hermione answered and put her wand in her open palm again.</p><p>"<em>Point Me Harry Potter</em>," she spoke again.</p><p>She nodded with satisfaction when the wand in her palm spun around first once, then twice, and then kept on spinning.</p><p>"It's working," she announced happily before she cancelled the Hiding Charm on Harry with a General Counter-Spell. She would re-cast it the next day right before they would leave the castle.</p><p>"See," Harry said with a wide grin and gave her a shy kiss on the lips. "I knew you'd do it in less than an hour. You're brilliant!"</p><p>"Thanks, Harry," Hermione whispered back and happily returned the kiss.</p><p>They exchanged some more kisses, but after a short while, Harry drew away from her and leaned back in his chair, his expression becoming more serious again.</p><p>"With that spell on me..." he began hesitantly, "and with owls unable to find me... Hedwig also won't be able to find me, right?"</p><p>Hermione exhaled deeply, giving her boyfriend a heartfelt, sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Harry," she said sadly. "But... no, she won't be able to find you from afar..."</p><p>Harry sighed. "Yeah... I figured as much... I don't suppose that we can bring her along with us?"</p><p>"I'm sorry," Hermione replied reluctantly. "It's... I don't think so... I won't be able to bring along Crookshanks, either... We can't put animals in the space-expanded bags. And we can't bring them along when we have to carry them everywhere in cages. It's... it wouldn't be very practical. I'm sorry..."</p><p>"Like... What if we have to make a quick escape from some place because we're spotted?" she continued, trying to make Harry understand. "We can't risk the pets slowing us down in a situation like that..."</p><p>Harry nodded slowly, a resigned expression on his face, and Hermione was relieved that he saw the need to be pragmatic when their lives might be at risk. "Yes, I get it," he muttered. "What will you do with Crookshanks?"</p><p>"I think I'll leave a note for Ginny and ask her to take care of him," Hermione replied, "I think she would like that. And Crookshanks, too. He got along well with Ginny at the Burrow." With a small smile, she added, "As well as he gets along with anyone, I suppose."</p><p>"Do you think Ginny would like an owl, too?" Harry asked. "There aren't many people I would trust to take care of Hedwig, and... well, I suppose the Weasleys could use another owl... but with Ron..."</p><p>"I know," Hermione replied sympathetically. She understood perfectly well why Harry wouldn't want to leave Hedwig in Ron's care. "I'll tell Ginny in my note that she'll have two pets now..."</p><p>Harry nodded, while Hermione chuckled slightly. That news would come as quite a shock to Ginny. Hermione hoped that the pets would be at least a small consolation for the younger girl when she learnt of her and Harry's escape from Hogwarts.</p><p>"Well..." Harry spoke up after a short pause between them, "is there anything else left for us to prepare?"</p><p>Hermione shook her head. "Not really. We'll gather the books here before we leave. The only thing left to do is to think of a way to get to Snape's Potion supply... But I have no idea how we could do that. We can't risk being caught by him..."</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry said with a frown on his face. "Stealing from Snape won't be easy... We won't have another class with him... Maybe I could use the Invisibility Cloak to sneak into the classroom during another class, or in the evening... but I think it's too risky..."</p><p>"Yes, it is," Hermione agreed emphatically and shrugged. "Getting these supplies isn't something we must do, anyway. It just would be nice to have them before we go. But we could just buy everything we need in France later on."</p><p>"Right," Harry said. "That's probably better..."</p><p>Putting the matter out of their minds, Harry and Hermione then spent the rest of the day reading more books on the magical communities in Europe and discussing their preferred travel routes. Though, they talked and shared their ideas mostly to pass the time, as there was no need to decide on a detailed plan already. They only needed to know their possible first stops, which would be in northern France.</p><p>Hermione could see that Harry was as excited as her as they quietly talked about the places they wanted to visit. It was also evident to her that he was just as worried as her about what the next day would bring. Given their shared nervousness, it somehow felt wrong that they weren't preparing further for their escape, but she knew that they could do nothing more than what they had done already. All they could do now was to wait and hope that their plan would work out.</p><p>In the evening, they decided to retire early for the night. Between the little sleep they had gotten in the morning and their escape planned for the night the next day, they really needed to get in a good night's sleep for a change.</p><p>As they kissed good night at the bottom of the stairs to the dormitories, Hermione gave Harry a tight hug. She didn't know if any students paid close attention to Harry and her in the busy common room, but she decided that she didn't care. Hopefully, this would be their last night in the castle, anyway.</p><p>"Don't worry. It will all work out," she whispered to Harry, though she felt that she was assuring him as much as herself.</p><p>"I know," her boyfriend replied softly, wrapping his arms around her. "And I could say the same thing to you. Try not to worry too much... We have a good plan, I'm sure of it... Just wait and see, we'll be in France before you know it..."</p><p>They shared another brief kiss before they reluctantly stepped apart and went up the stairs to their respective dormitory. Hermione crawled into her bed a few minutes later, and despite her anticipation and anxiousness about the coming day, she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit her pillow.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>Harry and Hermione had an early breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. As they ate their meals at their usual spot at the end of the Gryffindor table, the Great Hall was slowly filling with students, but Hermione noted that most of them didn't give Harry and her a second glance. Evidently, the excitement over Rita Skeeter's article in the Prophet had finally died down and students were ready to leave them alone again for the most part.</p><p>Hermione enjoyed the quiet meal, as it helped to calm her nerves, but her peace and quiet was interrupted when Harry suddenly grabbed her arm and leaned towards her, an excited expression on his face.</p><p>"Hermione," he whispered, "I know how to get into Snape's classroom tonight before we leave!"</p><p>Hermione gave her boyfriend a startled look. "You do?" she wondered.</p><p>Harry gave her a wide grin and nodded, looking very satisfied with himself. "I do. It's pretty simple, if you think about it..."</p><p>Hermione frowned. "What is it?"</p><p>"I... I'll show you in a moment," he replied with a smirk and turned around towards the hall, eyeing the teachers at the head table and the students of the other Houses.</p><p>"Harry," she growled, getting tired of his secretiveness, but he only grinned at her.</p><p>"Just a moment..." he whispered. "A minute maybe..."</p><p>With a huff of annoyance, Hermione returned her attention to her plate in front of her. If Harry wanted to be silly, that was his prerogative. She wouldn't encourage him.</p><p>Still smirking, Harry continued to observe the students in the Great Hall, only to jump up half a minute later.</p><p>Quickly, he strode towards the exit of the hall, leaving Hermione watching after him with confusion.</p><p>"Oi, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, and Hermione noticed that Draco Malfoy and his two bookends had been approaching the exit of the hall from the Slytherin table.</p><p>"Potter," the blond Slytherin drawled. "What do you want? Are you-"</p><p>Suddenly, Harry's wand was in his hand and was pointing at the startled Slytherin.</p><p>Leaving Malfoy no time to react, Harry flicked his wand without hesitation. "<em>Densaugeo</em>!" he shouted, casting the hex that Hermione had gotten much too familiar with two weeks prior. The jet of light from Harry's wand hit Malfoy right in the face, and the boy screamed in pain as his teeth started growing rapidly.</p><p>Hermione was far from the only person to be startled by Harry's actions. There were many shocked gasps and surprised shouts from students all around the Great Hall, but the loudest scream came from the head table.</p><p>"POTTER!" Snape yelled and raced down from the head table towards the boys at the exit of the hall. The other teachers in the hall remained seated and only looked at the scene with apparent disapproval. McGonagall's lips were pursed into a thin line as she shook her head with anger, and Hermione was glad that at least the headmaster wasn't in attendance that morning.</p><p>As he strode along, Snape drew his wand and waved it at Malfoy, stopping his teeth from growing further. Though by now, Malfoy's front teeth had reached a length of over two feet and were five inches wide at least, and the boy was whimpering in pain. Hermione noted with no small amount of satisfaction that despite Snape's intervention, Malfoy's teeth had already gotten much bigger than hers had. It just proved once more that her boyfriend was a much more powerful wizard than Malfoy.</p><p>"Hospital wing, Draco," Snape snapped at the Slytherin, and Malfoy ran out of the Great Hall, leaving many laughing students in his wake.</p><p>Once Malfoy had departed, Snape rounded on Harry. "Your arrogance is truly astounding, Potter," the man spat venomously. "So, you think you can do as you please just because you managed to cheat yourself into the tournament? Or because your name was mentioned in the papers? Well, I don't think so..."</p><p>Hermione's eyes widened as she suddenly realised what Harry's plan was. She had to forcefully bite on her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing out loud. It truly was a brilliant plan, in the insane, reckless way that was so typical for Harry.</p><p>"That will be... yes," Snape drawled. "I think that will be one hundred points from Gryffindor and detention the entire week, starting today! Be at the Potions classroom at seven!"</p><p>"Yes, Professor," Harry muttered, his gaze lowered to the floor and an apparently disgruntled expression on his face. Hermione knew better, of course, but as Harry shuffled back towards her with hanging shoulders, she thought that she really had to compliment him on his acting skills.</p><p>Harry slumped down on the bench next to her, staying silent. He only looked up at her once the excited chatter in the Great Hall had quieted down again and he was no longer the centre of attention.</p><p>"You- I can't believe what you did there," Hermione whispered to him, shaking her head disbelievingly when he gave her a very smug grin. "You know you're lucky it worked? What if some other teacher had punished you? Or what if Snape had assigned your detention with Filch or someone else?"</p><p>Harry snorted in response. "Snape was sitting right there. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he wouldn't be the first teacher to try and give me detention. And he always has me in detention with him..."</p><p>"Right," Hermione muttered. "So, you've gotten yourself detention with Snape. Congratulations. Now what? That's not enough for what we have to do."</p><p>Harry just grinned at her again, and Hermione sighed, shaking her head with exasperation.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>The rest of the day passed much more quietly. They attended their classes as usual, keeping their heads down and not participating beyond the bare minimum. Once classes had ended, Harry and Hermione began with their final preparations. Hermione wrote out a short note for Ginny, telling her that they would leave Hogwarts in the face of the staff's negligence and all the threats to Harry's life, and asking her to take care of Crookshanks and Hedwig.</p><p>After a quick dinner, they returned to their dormitories to collect their belongings. Hermione emptied her trunk and her drawers and packed everything in her space-expanded handbag. With a heavy heart, she then said goodbye to Crookshanks and left the note for Ginny in her empty trunk under her bed.</p><p>Before she left the dorm, she closed the curtains around her bed, hoping that her dorm-mates Lavender and Parvati wouldn't notice her missing curfew or wouldn't tell on her if they did.</p><p>She met with Harry in the common room shortly before seven, when the detention with Professor Snape would start. Harry held his backpack with his belongings in one hand, trying to look inconspicuous as he waited for her. Judging by the mournful expression on his face, she suspected that he had just returned from saying goodbye to Hedwig.</p><p>With one last look back into the common room, they stepped out of the portrait hole into the corridor and made their way to the dungeons. As they walked along, Harry rummaged in the backpack and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak.</p><p>"Here," he muttered, handing it to Hermione.</p><p>"Thank you," she said with a low voice. "And give me the backpack, too. It would look suspicious if you have it."</p><p>Hermione took the backpack from Harry's hands and shouldered it before she threw the cloak over herself. They then walked along in nervous silence until they reached the Potions classroom a few minutes later.</p><p>"You're ready?" Hermione whispered apprehensively from under the cloak.</p><p>"Yeah," Harry affirmed with a nervous nod. "Let's do this."</p><p>He raised his hand and knocked at the door, which was opened by Snape a moment later.</p><p>"Potter," the man spat, sneering at Harry. "Come in!"</p><p>Harry entered the classroom, closing the door behind him very slowly to give Hermione ample time to sneak into the room under the Invisibility Cloak.</p><p>"Stop dallying around!" Snape spat contemptuously as he turned around and strode back towards his desk at the far-side of the classroom. "There is a barrel of pickled frogs that need to be disembowelled. After that, you will prepare and mash the frog livers for use. I would think that even a dunderhead like you, Potter, would be able to do that. But then, you probably..."</p><p>Hermione tuned out whatever insults the vile man uttered next when she observed Harry slowly drawing his wand. Under the cloak, she also raised her wand, though she and Harry had agreed that he would take the first shot if possible and she would only act as back-up. They had only practised the spell a few times, so she hoped that Harry would get it right with the first attempt.</p><p>With his back turned towards them, Snape was completely unaware of Harry raising his wand at him. And with the way the man droned on about Harry's supposed inadequacies, he also didn't hear the boy's whispered spell as Harry flicked his wand.</p><p>"<em>Stupefy</em>!" Harry incanted, and a red beam of light left his wand, hitting the unsuspecting teacher fully in the back. Snape collapsed and Hermione winced slightly when his head hit the ground with a dull thud.</p><p>She shed the Invisibility Cloak and stepped closer, her wand still levelled at the unconscious form of Snape. "We should make sure that he doesn't wake up," she said and flicked her wand. "<em>Stupefy</em>!"</p><p>"<em>Stupefy</em>!" Harry also shouted again, and both Stunning Spells hit Snape in the torso.</p><p>"Right," Hermione said and exhaled deeply, much relieved that they had been able to take out Snape that easily. "Now let's get him out of the way."</p><p>After all, it wouldn't do to have the unconscious teacher be spotted by anyone wandering into the classroom unsuspectingly. So, she levitated the man behind the teacher's desk to hide him, though not without 'accidentally' bumping his head on several pieces of furniture on the way. Once she had manoeuvred Snape into a position where he wouldn't be discovered immediately, she unceremoniously dropped him to the floor again. She also disarmed the teacher and pocketed his wand. One could never know when a spare wand might come in handy, she thought.</p><p>"Are you done?" Harry, who had observed the whole spectacle, asked her with amusement, a small smirk playing on his lips.</p><p>"Yeah," Hermione confirmed with a nod, not apologetic in the least for her actions. "Let's get going!"</p><p>Over the next hour, Harry and Hermione raided both the supply closet in the classroom and the adjacent storage rooms that were usually off-limits for students. The couple found stores of many medical potions that Snape probably kept for Madam Pomfrey and they collected vials of Essence of Dittany, Blood-replenishing Potion, Pain-relief, Pepper-up, Bruise Salve, and Skele-Gro. Hermione put all the flasks in her enchanted handbag.</p><p>She knew that these potions might come in handy if they ever had to treat small injuries. It would be best in such a case to avoid going to a magical hospital where they might be recognised. She would have to read up on how long the potions could be stored before they lost their effectiveness, but for now they just took everything with them.</p><p>Harry and Hermione then collected the ingredients they would need to brew the potions of the entire Potions curriculum during their self-studies. Hermione also gathered supplies for more Ageing Potion and for some other potions she might need eventually.</p><p>They were done within an hour, and Hermione felt both excited and apprehensive over the ease of their heist. She feared that they would run into some unforeseen obstacles, soon. Their plans had never worked out that smoothly before.</p><p>Nervously, she and Harry then waited for curfew, when they would continue to the library. On the Marauder's Map, they observed how the corridors and the library slowly emptied of students as the evening progressed. It was a few minutes after eleven when Hermione and Harry finally got ready to leave the Potions classroom.</p><p>"Do we have everything?" Harry asked as he shouldered his backpack.</p><p>"Yeah, I think so," Hermione replied and lifted her handbag.</p><p>"Though..." her boyfriend began, giving her a questioning look. "Can we be sure that Snape stays unconscious for the night?"</p><p>Hermione frowned, nodding slowly. Harry might have a point there. They couldn't risk Snape raising the alarm.</p><p>"Right," she muttered and approached the teacher's unmoving form. "Better safe than sorry..."</p><p>She pulled her wand and raised it at the man.</p><p>"<em>Stupefy</em>!" she yelled, hitting Snape with another Stunning Spell, and Harry, who apparently didn't want to feel left out, also Stunned the teacher again.</p><p>"All right. Good," Harry then stated with a nod, a small smirk on his slips. "Should we leave, now?"</p><p>"Yes..." Hermione said slowly, looking at the unconscious teacher.</p><p>After being hit by a total of five Stunners, she felt certain that Snape wouldn't wake until the morning. It wasn't exactly healthy to take this many Stunners, but she was confident it wouldn't do any lasting harm, either. Snape would remain unconscious for the rest of the night and possibly until someone found him in the morning. He would have a nasty headache once he was enervated, but apart from that, he should be fine. Probably. She didn't find it in her to worry overly much about the health of the unpleasant man.</p><p>In fact, he was getting off much too lightly, in her opinion. Thinking back to all the abuse the vile man had heaped upon her boyfriend, Hermione's anger rose again.</p><p>"Or maybe..." she muttered, "maybe one last parting gift is in order..."</p><p>She raised her right foot, and with an angry grunt, she forcefully stomped down onto Snape's face, right onto his crooked nose. Harry yelped in surprise next to her, but he didn't move to intervene.</p><p>With grim satisfaction, she then looked down on Snape's face and inspected her handiwork. She hadn't used enough force to risk seriously injuring the man, but enough to do some damage. Quickly, she turned Snape's head to the side with her foot, lest he would choke on his own blood while unconscious. Snape's nose was bleeding and rapidly swelling, being clearly broken in several places. Hermione couldn't help but grin about what she had done. The bastard deserved it!</p><p>"Huh," Harry said with mild curiosity. "That will hurt when he wakes up." He chuckled. "His nose is even more crooked now than before."</p><p>"Really?" Hermione asked airily and stepped away. "I see no difference."</p><p>Harry laughed out loud, and Hermione exchanged a smirk with him as they turned around and approached the exit of the classroom.</p><p>"Can we go, now?" Hermione asked Harry, her hand on the doorknob.</p><p>"Yeah, all clear," Harry confirmed after a brief inspection of the Marauder's Map and unfolded the Invisibility Cloak.</p><p>He threw the cloak over both of them before they left the classroom. Pressed closely together, the couple then slowly made their way to the library, always keeping watch on the Marauder's Map to ensure that they didn't encounter any teachers.</p><p>Once they reached the library, Hermione darted around the shelves and collected books while Harry kept watch. She quickly gathered two copies of all the textbooks they would need, and then began to pick several books for more advanced reading. She also collected a few tomes with interesting titles just for some light reading on topics such as Enchantment, Occlumency, or Duelling.</p><p>In the end, Hermione 'borrowed' almost five dozen textbooks and over three dozen further books. She was very grateful for her space-expanded handbag, that allowed her to carry all these books effortlessly. Hermione still felt bad about stealing from a library, but she assured herself that they would return the books eventually. Besides, it was all for a good cause, she told herself.</p><p>Not wanting to dally further and risk getting caught, Harry and Hermione left the library as soon as possible. Under the Invisibility Cloak, they climbed the stairs to the third floor, where they would leave the castle through the secret passage under the statue of the One-Eyed Witch.</p><p>They made it to their destination without encountering any obstacles. Harry then opened the entry to the passage and Hermione followed him down the narrow corridor. After the entry had closed behind them, Harry raised his wand and muttered, "<em>Lumos</em>!"</p><p>As the spell illuminated the dark, earthy passageway, Hermione released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "It worked! We're out!" she whispered excitedly, throwing her arms around Harry and giving him a deep kiss.</p><p>"Yes, we are," Harry chuckled once they moved apart again. "But let's go, we should keep moving..."</p><p>"Wait!" Hermione said, "The Hiding Charms and the disguise first!"</p><p>"Right," Harry muttered, and Hermione raised her wand at him.</p><p>"<em>Abscondam loco omnino</em>!"</p><p>After she had confirmed that the spell on Harry had taken hold with another Point-Me Spell, she cast the Hiding Charm at herself.</p><p>With that done, she rummaged in her handbag and fished out the vial of Ageing Potion. Carefully, she measured out the right amount of potion she would need in the cap of the flask. She was aiming to age herself by five years.</p><p>After an encouraging nod from her boyfriend, Hermione then raised the cup of potion and swallowed it with one gulp. She could feel the Ageing Potion's effect immediately. Her vision blurred and she felt herself grow several inches while the proportions of her body changed slightly.</p><p>Hermione grimaced when she suddenly felt very constricted by her much too tight clothes. Her bra especially was too tight and was painfully tearing into her chest. She really hadn't thought that through, she thought, annoyed with herself.</p><p>Harry, in the meantime, had watched her transformation with wide eyes.</p><p>"Wow, Hermione, you're... hot!" he blurted out, only to blush furiously when his brain caught up with his mouth and he realised what he had said.</p><p>Hermione also felt her cheeks grow warm as she looked down her body. She didn't look too bad, she supposed, but to her, the differences in her figure were simply what was to be expected by the age difference. And right now, those differences caused her quite a bit of discomfort.</p><p>"Nice to know that you're enjoying the show, but I'm bloody uncomfortable," she muttered with some annoyance, though it wasn't really directed at Harry.</p><p>Luckily, she was able to quickly adjust her clothes with a few resizing charms. The charmed clothes still looked a bit off on her new body, but she decided they would do for now. Especially as she then donned her winter coat to hide her Hogwarts uniform under it. She finished her disguise with a Colour Change Charm that turned her hair blonde.</p><p>"Let's go," she said to Harry once she was done, and together they made their way through the narrow gangway to the end of the passageway. With every step that took them further away from the castle, Hermione felt more hopeful that their escape would succeed.</p><p>They reached the end of the passage a few minutes later. Trying his best not to make any sound, Harry opened the trapdoor to the cellar of Honeydukes and they clambered into the dark room, once more hiding themselves under the Invisibility Cloak. They crept towards the wooden staircase that led to the ground floor of the shop. Thankfully, it was deserted for the night.</p><p>They only encountered a problem once they had reached the store's entrance door.</p><p>"The door is locked," Harry whispered, as he repeatedly yanked on the door handle without success. "Unlocking charm?"</p><p>Hermione nodded and raised her wand. "<em>Alohomora</em>!" she muttered.</p><p>Relief flooded her when the lock clicked, but a moment later, she and Harry both flinched when a loud, wailing alarm began to sound.</p><p>"Shit!" Harry exclaimed and pulled the door open. "Run!"</p><p>With Harry pulling her along, they darted out into the street and rushed into a nearby side-alley, still hidden under the cloak.</p><p>At the same time, a light was lit in the shop.</p><p>"Where are you? Show yourself!" an angry yell sounded from within, and as she peeked around the street corner towards the shop, Hermione spotted a middle-aged man standing in the entrance of the shop, wearing a morning gown and looking around angrily, his wand raised.</p><p>"Probably those damned twins again," the man muttered a moment later, sighed, and retreated back inside, closing the door behind him.</p><p>"Phew..." Harry breathed out heavily. "That was close!"</p><p>"Let's wait a bit before we go to the Three Broomsticks," Hermione suggested, also panting slightly. "Just to make sure that the coast is clear."</p><p>Harry agreed, and the couple nervously observed their surroundings for a while, but no more people were to be seen on the streets. After a few minutes, they decided that they could continue on.</p><p>Slowly, they made their way to the Three Broomsticks, which was still open at that hour. When they reached the entrance of the bar, Hermione stepped out from under the Invisibility Cloak and opened the door.</p><p>Trying to appear inconspicuous, she entered the busy room and walked towards the fireplace. However, she was accosted by Madam Rosmerta before she had crossed the room.</p><p>"Hallo, Miss," the barmaid greeted Hermione cheerfully. "How can I help you?"</p><p>"Uhm..." Hermione hesitated, trying to think up a good cover story. "Bonjour, I 'ave been visiting my family from Beauxbatons..." she then said with a terrible fake French accent, "And I 'ave to get back to Diagon Alley tonight. Can I travel from here, s'il vous plaît?"</p><p>"Oh, of course, Mademoiselle," Madam Rosmerta replied brightly, and Hermione was much relieved when the woman didn't appear suspicious of her. "The Floo Powder is on the cupboard next to the fireplace. The fee is one Sickle. Please put it in the coin box next to the pot with the Floo Powder."</p><p>"Merci," Hermione replied, placed a sickle in the box, and took a handful of Floo Powder out of the pot.</p><p>"Go, Harry!" she whispered under her breath as she threw the powder into the fire but didn't step inside the swirling green flames.</p><p>"Diagon Alley!" she shouted at the same time as Harry spoke the destination from within the fire, and the flames rose with a loud swoosh as Harry was transported away. Hermione was confident that no one had heard Harry's voice over her own shout and the noise in the bar-room. And as Harry had been invisible, Hermione hoped that to the bystanders it would look as if no one had been standing within the swirling flames.</p><p>"Mademoiselle, don't you have Floo Travel in France?" Madam Rosmerta laughed out behind Hermione. "You have to step <em>inside</em> the flames!"</p><p>"Oh, of course," Hermione exclaimed, giving off what was supposed to resemble an embarrassed chuckle. She paid another Sickle and took another handful of powder, and this time she stepped into the fire.</p><p>"Diagon Alley!" she shouted and felt herself being sucked into the whirl of green flames, getting spun around rapidly. But it only took a few moments until the spinning stopped and she was catapulted out of another fireplace. She came to a halt a few steps later, regaining her balance and looking around, slightly dazzled.</p><p>She was relieved to see that she had indeed made it to the Leaky Cauldron and hoped that Harry was around under his Invisibility Cloak somewhere. From behind the counter across the bar-room, Tom the bartender looked at her with a confused expression on his face.</p><p>"Good evening, Miss," the old man greeted her, frowning slightly. "Are you alone? I could have sworn the fireplace had activated twice..."</p><p>"Oh... uhm..." Hermione hesitated, looking like the proverbial deer caught in headlights, before she regained her composure.</p><p>"Well, maybe you should stop drinking with your patrons if you start to see things double," she replied dismissively.</p><p>"Of course, my apologies, Miss," Tom replied amiably. "How may I help you?"</p><p>"I'd like to have a room for the night, please," Hermione answered as she approached the counter.</p><p>"Of course, Miss. That will be one galleon and two Sickles," the bartender replied and took a key from a drawer behind the counter.</p><p>"Room Eight, second floor," he told her as she handed over the money. "Have a good night."</p><p>"Thank you," Hermione said, took the key and quickly made her way to the staircase leading to the upper floors. She hoped that Harry was following her under his cloak.</p><p>Hermione easily found her room and unlocked the door. Stepping inside, she took in the comfy wood-panelled room, which was equipped with a large bed, polished oak furniture, and a crackling fire in an open fireplace.</p><p>As soon as Hermione closed the door behind her, there was a distortion in the air right next to her. Her boyfriend appeared a moment later as he lowered his cloak.</p><p>"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed happily and hugged him tightly, euphoric that they were safe. She moved to give him a kiss but was confused when Harry suddenly backed off and took a step away from her.</p><p>"Wait!" he exclaimed, looking at her awkwardly. "I... I know I said you were hot, and I stand by it, even when you're blonde... but... could you please return into... well... <em>you</em>?"</p><p>"Oh," Hermione muttered and blushed crimson. She had completely forgotten about her current appearance. "Sorry."</p><p>Quickly, she took the antidote to the Ageing Potion and changed the colour of her hair back to normal.</p><p>"Is that better?" she then asked Harry as she approached him again, and forgoing an answer, Harry leaned towards her and caught her lips in a deep kiss.</p><p>They parted several long moments later, both breathing heavily.</p><p>"I can't believe how smoothly everything went," Hermione said happily.</p><p>"Yeah," Harry agreed, "Let's just hope that our luck holds tomorrow... But things have gone perfectly so far..."</p><p>"Yes," Hermione replied and sighed contently. "Well, should we turn in for the night?"</p><p>"Uhm..." Harry began, fidgeting slightly.</p><p>Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "What is it, Harry?"</p><p>"Uhm... there... there's only one bed," Harry pointed out the obvious, giving her an awkward look.</p><p>"Well, yes," she said, nonplussed, "I could've hardly demanded a double room, could I?"</p><p>"Well, yeah, I suppose..." Harry muttered. "I guess I can sleep on the floor..."</p><p>"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "You will do no such thing! Honestly, Harry, the bed is more than big enough for the two of us. And I think I can remember us sleeping on the couch in the common room just two days ago, and that was much narrower..."</p><p>"But- but... but I..." Harry sputtered, "But that wasn't in our nightclothes!" he insisted. "I... I don't want to accidentally do something you don't want... Or touch-" he halted, blushing furiously.</p><p>Shaking her head slightly, Hermione wrapped her arms around the boy, a fond smile on her lips. His concern was admirable, she supposed, but given Harry's usual shyness and the way he had been brought up, she deemed it much more likely that <em>she</em> would accidentally do something that <em>he</em> wasn't ready for.</p><p>"Harry," she said softly, "I trust you to be a perfect gentleman. And if... Say, if in your sleep, a hand accidentally moves somewhere, I won't hold it against you, I promise... I'd much prefer to fall asleep with you beside me than to have you lying on the floor..."</p><p>"Well, all right... if you're sure," Harry yielded after a pause, and Hermione smiled happily at him.</p><p>"Good," she said and pecked him on the lips. "Then get ready for bed. You can go first."</p><p>They both didn't take long in the bathroom and were lying in bed only twenty minutes later. Feeling frightened and nervous about what their future would hold, but also thrilled and excited, Hermione cuddled into Harry as he laid on his back. She turned to kiss him goodnight when she noted that Harry was staring at the ceiling, a pensive expression on his face.</p><p>"What's on your mind?" she asked, worried whether Harry might have second thoughts about their decision to run away.</p><p>"I'm thinking, and..." Harry began hesitantly, "Hermione, your parents live a bit south of London, right?"</p><p>"Huh? Yes, in Sevenoaks, why?" Hermione asked, confused why Harry would bring up the topic.</p><p>"So it's on the way..." Harry mused and looked at her cautiously. "I... I think we should visit your parents before we leave."</p><p>"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "Why- why would..."</p><p>"I think we should go and see your parents tomorrow," Harry stated, his voice becoming more determined. "And you should tell them that you have to leave, and try to explain things, and at least say goodbye."</p><p>"Harry..." Hermione started, giving him a pained look. "They... they won't understand. They don't know anything about the magical world. They don't like that I'm a witch, they never cared, they always pretended I wasn't. It would just end in a fight... It wouldn't do any good..."</p><p>"It's- it's just... I don't want you to lose them because of me," Harry said miserably. "I've never known my parents, and for you just to walk away..."</p><p>"Oh, Harry..." Hermione sighed and hugged him tightly, tears welling up in her eyes as she realised how it must seem to him.</p><p>"Just... just say goodbye, and that you'll be back, and that you'll write?" he said and looked at her pleadingly. "And... and then we can leave..."</p><p>Hermione exhaled deeply. She knew that her parents wouldn't understand why she and Harry had to leave. They might even try to keep Harry and her from going. Not that they would have any chance to succeed. But she also knew that at least on some level, her parents still cared for her, no matter how terrible they were at showing it. It would be the decent thing to do to inform them of her decision and her reasons, and not to leave without even a goodbye.</p><p>In the end, she gave her boyfriend a reluctant nod. "All right," she conceded. "They won't understand, but maybe I should try and talk to them anyway. Just so that they can be sure that I'll be all right, and that we'll see each other again in... in a few years..."</p><p>"Thank you," Harry breathed.</p><p>"No, thank <em>you</em> for not letting my pride get the best of me," Hermione replied softly. "You're right. They deserve at least a goodbye."</p><p>Visibly relieved, Harry nodded and wrapped his arms around her. After one last peck, Hermione snuggled closely against him and drew the blanket over them.</p><p>"Good night," she murmured as she closed her eyes and relaxed.</p><p>"Good night," her boyfriend whispered back and softly kissed her temple, pulling her closer against him. Deeply exhausted, Hermione was asleep a few moments later.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, a huge thank you to my awesome alpha and beta readers Proton6 and WH Rutledge!</p><p>Well, all right, so that's it for 2020. Not only have HHr finally left Hogwarts, we even got a Yule Ball scene to coincide with Christmas! Yay!</p><p>Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Where the Customer Is King*</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER SIX -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>Where the Customer Is King*</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>*Terms and Conditions apply</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Triiiing! Triiiing! Triiiing! Triiiing!</em>
</p><p>Hermione bolted upright in bed when the mechanical alarm clock next to the bed went off with an ear-splitting ring at an hour that still felt like the middle of the night. She reached over her stirring boyfriend to the clock on the nightstand and turned off the alarm.</p><p>"Huh? Wha-what... oh... hey..." Harry mumbled as his eyes fluttered open</p><p>"Morning," Hermione yawned. She disentangled herself from the blankets and sat up at the edge of the bed.</p><p>"What time is it?" Harry asked groggily.</p><p>"It's... six in the morning," Hermione said with a look at the alarm clock. "Just like we planned. We want to be out of the Alley before people start looking for us, remember?"</p><p>Harry sighed. "Right..."</p><p>"Oh, stop whining," Hermione chuckled and leaned over towards Harry, giving him a peck on the corner of his mouth. "At least you can lie down for a few more minutes while I get ready for the day."</p><p>Leaving a grumbling Harry behind, she stood up, gathered some clothes for the day, and made her way to the bathroom. After a quick shower, Hermione took care of her disguise. Like the night before, she took some Ageing Potion to make herself look as if she was in her mid-twenties, resized her clothes, and charmed her hair to appear blonde. As she observed herself in the bathroom mirror, Hermione wondered if she had gotten the shade of blonde exactly right, but she decided that it matched the colour of the night before closely enough to not arouse suspicion.</p><p>When she stepped out of the bathroom, Harry had also gotten up and was rummaging around in his backpack.</p><p>"I'll fetch us something to eat," Hermione informed her boyfriend. "I'll be back here soon."</p><p>She carefully opened the door and peeked out into the empty hallway before she left the room. Downstairs in the bar room, she ordered a platter of sandwiches from Tom and returned to her and Harry's room a few minutes later.</p><p>"Hermione?" came a shout from within the bathroom as she entered the room.</p><p>"It's me!" she confirmed.</p><p>There was a short pause before the bathroom door suddenly yanked open and Harry jumped into the room half-naked in a fighting stance, training his wand on Hermione.</p><p>"Ha-Harry?" Hermione asked aghast, staring with wide eyes at her boyfriend, who was clad only in his boxer shorts.</p><p>"I- oh! Uhh... sorry..." the boy muttered and lowered his wand, his cheeks blushing crimson.</p><p>"<em>What are you doing</em>?" Hermione exclaimed. While she might have appreciated the sight under other circumstances, right now she only felt utterly confused by his actions.</p><p>"Uhm... it's just... well, your... your voice was wrong... and I thought... sorry," Harry mumbled.</p><p>"Oh," Hermione breathed. "Of course. I... I guess it will take a while until we've gotten used to this disguise."</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry agreed with an awkward chuckle. "Let me... let me just..." Without finishing the sentence, he dashed back into the bathroom.</p><p>Chuckling quietly, Hermione put the platter on a small table near the window and sat down to wait for her boyfriend. Harry joined her a few minutes later and took a sandwich from the plate.</p><p>"Harry, about what we talked about last night..." Hermione began hesitantly while they both nibbled on their sandwiches.</p><p>"Your parents?" Harry asked.</p><p>"Yes... I..."</p><p>"Hermione, please," Harry interrupted her. "I really think we should go and see them. You agreed!"</p><p>"No, no, that's not it," she quickly assured him. "It's just... The thing is, I don't think my parents will still be at home by the time we get there. They usually leave for work at eight in the morning."</p><p>"Well, it's... six thirty now. We might be able to do that, right?" Harry asked.</p><p>"I don't think so," Hermione replied with a frown. "The bank opens at seven and we'll be there right away. But even if we get everything done quickly, we'll still have to buy the tent. And the shop might not be open that early. Maybe... if we're lucky, the owner or a clerk might be there already and open for us, but we might have to wait a bit..."</p><p>"Okay. But if we're lucky, we'll be done in the Alley before eight. Right?" Harry asked.</p><p>"But then we still have to get to Sevenoaks," Hermione pointed out. "How long will that take on the broom? Twenty minutes? More?"</p><p>"Maybe... I actually don't know where it is, you'll have to guide me... And we'll have to be very careful when we fly over London on a broom during the day. People might see us."</p><p>"Oh... but why didn't you say so before?" Hermione asked, becoming more agitated. "If it's too dangerous, we'll have to... I don't know... take the Knight Bus? Or normal public transportation? But... but that-"</p><p>"No, don't worry," Harry interrupted her. "It should be all right with the Invisibility Cloak. I'm just saying that we won't be able to go very fast when we have to be careful to stay under the cloak..."</p><p>Hermione nodded slowly. "Well, fine. We'll see how it goes. But you know what? It might actually be best to not go to my home..."</p><p>"Hermione!" Harry protested. "You-"</p><p>"We should go to my parents' dental practice instead!" Hermione continued, talking over him. "It will be better, anyway. I don't expect that people will notice us missing that soon, but if they do, they might look for us at my home. But I doubt that Hogwarts has any records of my parents' work address."</p><p>"Huh... Right, let's do that," Harry agreed. "It's in Sevenoaks, too?"</p><p>"Yeah, the practice is close to our home," Hermione replied.</p><p>"Good." Harry nodded and took another sandwich. They finished their breakfast in nervous silence and got ready to leave the Leaky Cauldron shortly before seven.</p><p>"Harry?" Hermione asked when he shouldered his backpack and unfolded his Invisibility Cloak. "Won't you take some Ageing Potion, too?"</p><p>"I... well..." Harry shrugged. "I thought it might be better to only use the cloak... I will be under it most of the time, anyway."</p><p>"Yes, it'd only be for Gringotts, but better safe than sorry, right?" Hermione argued. "Some customer might identify you and run to Dumbledore or the Aurors because you're not at school where you're supposed to be."</p><p>"Well, I suppose," Harry said slowly. "But Hagrid... during my first trip to Diagon Alley, he warned me about trying to trick the goblins, and... well, they might not like it if they can't identify me."</p><p>"Oh..." Hermione muttered, a frown taking form on her face. She hadn't considered that.</p><p>"Or... maybe they could still identify me, I don't know..." Harry continued. "I don't know how it works. But can we risk running into difficulties with the goblins? I think I'd rather risk being spotted. We'll be gone before the news could get to Dumbledore, anyway."</p><p>Hermione nodded reluctantly. "Yes, that might be better. There probably won't be many customers in the bank at this hour, and we'll just have to try to be in and out as quickly as possible."</p><p>"All right, great, let's go then!" With that, Harry threw the cloak over himself and disappeared from Hermione's sight.</p><p>They descended the stairs to the bar room and Hermione returned her key to Tom before she and Harry left the Leaky Cauldron. When they entered Diagon Alley, Hermione was relieved to see that very few people were already milling about in the street. Quickly, she and Harry walked the short distance to the white marble building of Gringotts and arrived at the bank a few minutes after seven o'clock. The bronze doors of the bank were already open.</p><p>When they reached the set of stairs at the entrance of the bank, Harry slid off the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione nervously looked around, but luckily, there were no wizards and witches close-by to take notice of them, and the goblin security guard at the door didn't even flinch when Harry came into view right in front of him.</p><p>Hurriedly, Hermione and Harry entered the bank and traversed the large marble hall to the nearest counter. One old wizard was the only other customer in the bank, and he was deeply engrossed in haggling with a goblin on the other side of the hall.</p><p>The goblin behind a counter watched with an impassive expression on his face as Hermione and Harry approached him.</p><p>"Uhm... Good morning, Sir," Harry greeted the goblin nervously. "I would like to visit my vault, please."</p><p>"Name, key, and vault number?" the goblin asked with a bored tone. While he wasn't very friendly, Hermione was just glad that the goblin apparently treated Harry just like any other customer, despite Harry and her being school children who were supposed to be at Hogwarts right now.</p><p>"Of course, here," Harry replied and handed his small golden vault key over the counter. "My name is Harry Potter, and the vault number is six-hundred and eighty-seven.</p><p>The goblin inspected the key and briefly glanced at Harry before he handed the key back to him. "Very well. That seems to be in order. Someone will escort you to your vault shortly. Anything else?"</p><p>"No, thank you," Harry replied.</p><p>A few moments later, another goblin arrived to take Harry and Hermione to the vault. The cart ride to the vaults was certainly an experience to Hermione, but one she really could have done without. When the goblin brought the cart to a grinding halt next to Harry's vault, Hermione was feeling very dizzy and slightly sick, and Harry had to help her out of the cart so she wouldn't lose her balance.</p><p>The goblin in the meantime quickly strode towards a small door in the passage wall.</p><p>"Key!" he demanded with an outstretched hand towards Harry, who handed his key to the goblin.</p><p>The goblin opened the vault and Hermione's jaw dropped as she saw the mounds of golden Galleons inside. There were also smaller heaps of silver and bronze coins, but their value was practically negligible compared to the mountains of Galleons.</p><p>"Wow... that's... a lot of money..." Hermione breathed. By her quick estimation, there had to be far over ten-thousand Galleons inside the vault. That would be more than a million Pounds in real money.</p><p>"I suppose," Harry muttered with a shrug of his shoulders. Hermione wasn't surprised that he appeared slightly embarrassed by his wealth.</p><p>"Uhm... How do we know how much gold there is exactly?" Hermione asked. When Harry only shrugged in response, she gave the goblin next to them a questioning look.</p><p>The goblin raised his eyebrows at her and Hermione had the feeling that she had asked a particularly daft question. "By counting it," the goblin stated flatly.</p><p>"But that would take forever!" Hermione exclaimed. "Isn't there a spell for that? Or... or could you do it?" she asked the goblin with some exasperation. Why did the goblins have to be so difficult?</p><p>"I could. Do you wish me to count your money?" the goblin asked Harry.</p><p>"Yes please," Harry confirmed.</p><p>The goblin placed his hand on the vault door and mumbled something unintelligible.</p><p>"Your vault contains fifteen-thousand eight-hundred and twenty-seven Galleons, four-thousand three-hundred and two Sickles, and two-thousand two-hundred and eighty-nine Knuts," the goblin informed Harry a moment later.</p><p>Even though she has suspected something like this, Hermione's jaw still dropped when she heard the numbers. She could understand now why Harry hadn't been concerned about money before. This would be more than enough for their escape, and it was one huge worry off her chest. In her stupor, Hermione almost didn't hear when the goblin spoke up again.</p><p>"That will be five Galleons."</p><p>"What?" Harry asked.</p><p>"The service fee for counting your gold," the goblin said impatiently.</p><p>"Oh, sure," Harry muttered and took five Galleons from his vault, handing the coins to the goblin.</p><p>"Harry, those were almost four-hundred Pounds!" Hermione hissed quietly to Harry, though she was sure that the goblin still heard her.</p><p>"Huh?" Harry replied eloquently.</p><p>"You just paid him almost four-hundred Pounds for performing a small spell!" Hermione exclaimed. "I think the exchange rate when my parents converted money was something like eighty Pounds for a Galleon."</p><p>"Eighty Pounds..." Harry repeated and frowned slightly. "Wow! I'm a millionaire!"</p><p>"That's not-" she began but decided that Harry indeed didn't need to worry about four-hundred Pounds. "Well, yes, I suppose you are."</p><p>"Well... so... how much do we need?" Harry wondered.</p><p>Hermione shrugged. "Maybe you should keep a little bit here, in case you need the vault in the future. But... if you're allowed to take as much as you want, I think we should take most of it. We'll be more flexible that way."</p><p>"Right..." Harry turned towards the goblin. "I'd like to make a large withdrawal from my vault," he informed the goblin.</p><p>"Yes, I assumed as much," the goblin replied flippantly. "That's usually the reason why people visit their vaults."</p><p>"So there's no limit to how much I can withdraw?" Harry asked.</p><p>The goblin shrugged. "It's your vault."</p><p>"Oh, great, all right," Harry said. "So, I'd like to take out... fifteen-thousand Galleons. How would we do that? Uhm... transport that much gold?"</p><p>The goblin gave Harry a hard stare. "Surprise me," he drawled.</p><p>"Could you help us?" Harry asked, clearly becoming annoyed with the goblin, too.</p><p>"I could..." the goblin said slowly.</p><p>"Wait!" Hermione interrupted. "For another horrendous fee, you mean?"</p><p>"Completely adequate-" the goblin began.</p><p>"No, thank you," Hermione said decisively. "We'll just use the moneybags, Harry."</p><p>Harry nodded and he and Hermione began shovelling coins into their enchanted moneybags that they had bought at Hogsmeade the weekend prior. While she put more and more money in the purse, Hermione shook her head with annoyance and not a little bit of anger. Suddenly, she was feeling much less sympathetic about goblin rights, and the frequent Goblin rebellions seemed much less inexplicable to her now. <em>Why</em> were wizards storing their gold at Gringotts again? She really didn't know.</p><p>It took Hermione and Harry several minutes until only a small pile of golden, silver, and bronze coins was left in the vault. But even the few hundred Galleons that remained were still a respectable amount of money for anyone, let alone a fourteen-year-old teenager.</p><p>Harry and Hermione then stepped back into the cart, and they were once again thrown back and forth during the wild cart ride back to the surface. They were still a bit shaky on their feet when they re-entered the main hall of Gringotts and made their way to another counter.</p><p>Just like with the goblins before, the goblin behind the counter looked decidedly uninterested in the two teens. If at all, he appeared slightly annoyed that two customers dared to approach him.</p><p>"We... uhm, we would like to exchange some Galleons into British Pounds," Harry told the goblin.</p><p>"And into French Francs, if possible," Hermione added quickly.</p><p>"It's not," the goblin said flatly. "How many Galleons do you want to exchange?"</p><p>"One... one-thousand Galleons?" Harry said slowly, giving Hermione a questioning glance, who nodded in response.</p><p>"Put your moneybag on the counter," the goblin told Harry, who quickly did as demanded.</p><p>The goblin waved his hand over the purse and a huge pile of Galleons poured forth from the bag and formed neat columns on the counter. With another wave of the goblin, the Galleons disappeared and were replaced by a stack of bundled one-hundred Pound notes, a few smaller notes, and a handful of coins.</p><p>"Anything else?" the goblin asked.</p><p>"N-no... no... thank you..." Harry muttered while he stared with amazement at the pile of cash in front of him. Hermione, however, furrowed her brows.</p><p>"Wait a moment," she muttered while she counted the bundles and did a quick calculation in her head. "There's barely over thirty-thousand Pounds. Where's the rest?"</p><p>The goblin gave her a hard stare. "This is thirty-three thousand four-hundred and sixty-four Pounds and five Pence. As per the standard exchange rate for converting Galleons to Pounds."</p><p>"But that's- that's-" Hermione sputtered, "that's only something like thirty-three Pounds to the Galleon! It should be more than twice that much!"</p><p>The goblin behind the counter gave her a blank look. "Where have you gotten that idea from?"</p><p>"When my parents exchanged money to buy my school supplies two months ago, we paid almost eighty Pounds for one Galleon," Hermione said indignantly. Did the goblin really think he could rip off Harry and her just because they were young?</p><p>"Well yes, of course," the goblin replied impatiently. "The exchange rate for converting Pounds into Galleons lies at roughly seventy-eight Pounds to the Galleon."</p><p>"<em>What</em>?" Hermione exclaimed disbelievingly.</p><p>The goblin shrugged. "The difference is due to the Ministry's twenty-five percent tax on all conversions between Pounds and Galleons, and Gringotts' own exchange fee of twenty-five percent.</p><p>"Fifty percent! That's- that's robbery!" Hermione shrieked with outrage. "And- and we weren't even told about this! You can't just charge us with such horrendous fees!"</p><p>"It is no concern of ours when customers use our services without enquiring about the incurring fees beforehand," the goblin drawled.</p><p>"Well, be that as it may, with fees like this, we'll have to conduct our business elsewhere," Hermione replied, her voice trembling with barely contained anger.</p><p>The goblin gave her a toothy grin. "The money was exchanged already. But I can change it back if you wish. Do you wish me to do this?"</p><p>"You mean you would charge us again?" Hermione asked angrily.</p><p>"Naturally. I'd have to charge you the Ministry conversion tax and the Gringotts conversion fee for exchanging these Pounds into Galleons, of course."</p><p>"Fine, we'll take the Pounds, then!" Hermione snapped and gathered the money, Harry following suit. Quickly, they filled their moneybags and left the bank without a second glance at any of the goblins.</p><p>As soon as they stepped out into the alley, Harry donned the Invisibility Cloak again and disappeared from Hermione's sight.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione muttered while they walked along. She couldn't see him, but she knew that Harry was right beside her. Their hands were frequently bumping against each other as they hurried down the street. "I know that we should have planned this better. I should have... I don't know, I..."</p><p>"Don't worry, it's all right," Harry's disembodied voice replied from her right. "No harm done. Only... do you think we should've exchanged more money? Now that it's only half of what you thought it would be?"</p><p>"No, what we have should still be more than sufficient for a few years," Hermione whispered back, "And we can always exchange more Galleons elsewhere."</p><p>"All right," Harry replied, "So where is-" He didn't finish his question when Hermione halted in front of a small store at a corner to a side-alley.</p><p><em>Plunkett's Wizarding Travel Supplies, since 1881</em> read the sign above the shop.</p><p>"Here it is," Hermione whispered and looked through the shop window. The store was still closed, but she could see an old man rummaging about inside the store. Deciding to try her luck, Hermione softly knocked at the door. The man looked up and after a short hesitation, he walked over to the door and opened it.</p><p>"Good morning, Miss. We are still closed for another hour," the man informed Hermione, but he appeared friendly enough.</p><p>"Please, could you maybe make an exception?" Hermione asked. "I'm somewhat in a hurry."</p><p>"And..." she added, when the man still appeared reluctant. "I think I would spend quite a few Galleons in your shop. You see, I'm looking for a good wizarding tent..."</p><p>"Oh, very well, Miss, please step inside," the man replied, suddenly much more amiable.</p><p>"Thank you," Hermione said, much relieved, and entered the shop. She could feel Harry bumping into her when he followed her inside.</p><p>"So... a wizarding tent, you say?" the clerk asked while Hermione looked around in the store. High shelves covered the walls on both sides of the long, narrow room, and several tents were lined up in the middle of the store.</p><p>"Yes..." Hermione confirmed. "It should be comfortable for two persons, self-sufficient in all regards and in all environments, and with good obscuring and Muggle repellent charms."</p><p>The clerk nodded appreciatively while he walked towards the displayed tents. "I'm sure we will find something for you... How about this one?"</p><p>The man stopped in front of a high tent that looked like a small castle tower made of red and black silk. "It's one of our finest units. Two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a guest bathroom, a large sitting area, a separate kitchen, dining room, lounge, two storage rooms..."</p><p>Hermione's eyes widened when she glanced into the tent and saw a stately, space expanded hall with elegant furniture that wouldn't even look out of place in Buckingham Palace.</p><p>"That's- I think I'm looking for something a tad smaller, actually," she muttered. Just because Harry had more money than she had expected didn't mean that they should spend all of it on their tent now.</p><p>"Of course, Miss," the old man replied politely and stepped towards another tent. "How about this beauty? Tents with this line of equipment are our most popular products among adventurers and travellers."</p><p>The small, nondescript tent made from white cotton fabric didn't look like much to Hermione from the outside, but she was pleasantly surprised when she ducked her head through the canvas and looked inside the tent. It, too, was massively space-expanded and contained several large rooms. The living area easily matched the size of the Gryffindor common room. It had an open kitchen with a small table on one side of the room, and a matched set of a couch and two armchairs made of brown leather stood in front of an open fireplace on the other side.</p><p>"Would you like to take a closer look inside, Miss?" the clerk asked, and Hermione only nodded absentmindedly as she wandered into the tent.</p><p>On the inside, only the ceiling was made of canvas, while the wood-panelled walls were solid and gave the tent the look of a rather elegant cottage. There were several wooden cupboards and shelves along the walls, and a Wizarding Wireless on one of the cupboards was quietly playing music. All in all, it looked and felt <em>perfect</em>.</p><p>"The tent has one bathroom and one bedroom," the clerk explained while he walked towards two doors and opened them.</p><p>She heard how Harry, still invisible, gave off a small squeak at the last part of that statement, and she quickly faked a cough to disguise the noise.</p><p>"Ahem... yes... that's all right, I suppose," she said slowly while she inspected the other rooms, which were furnished in a style similar to the living area. The bedroom contained a comfy-looking king-size bed and several cupboards. Like in the living area, there were no windows, but Hermione noted that the ceiling of white canvas would provide more than enough light during the day.</p><p>"This looks very good," she said to the clerk when she exited the tent after a short while. "What are the enchantments?"</p><p>"It's very low-maintenance," the man replied. "The tent has enchantments for never-ending water supply and disposal, the fireplace doesn't require firewood, and there are enchantments in place to keep the temperature in hot or cold environments. Basically, the only thing you'd have to worry about during your travels is food... And the tent won't be noticed by any Muggles wandering by, of course."</p><p>"That sounds adequate," Hermione said. It was actually pretty impressive, she thought to herself.</p><p>"Of course, the canvas is waterproof and tear-resistant," the man continued. "And the tent can be packed and assembled with a single tap of your wand. Everything will stay in place when the tent is folded for transportation, no matter how much it gets shaken. It's rather exceptional charm work, if I may say so myself."</p><p>Hermione nodded slowly. "Very well. How much is it?" she asked.</p><p>"It's a real bargain, let me tell you!" the clerk replied enthusiastically. "Only four-thousand Galleons. And we even give you a twenty-year guarantee for all enchantments."</p><p>Hermione winced. That was still much more of Harry's gold than what she felt comfortable spending. "How about... three-thousand Galleons?" she asked, trying to haggle a bit.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Miss, but I really can't lower the price," the clerk replied with an apologetic smile. "Such a tent is still a self-sufficient apartment, fully furnished. That doesn't come cheap. We could look at other tents, but those wouldn't be as well-equipped as this one..."</p><p>"No, all right..." Hermione said reluctantly. The clerk was right that she was basically buying a cottage, just without the property area. That had to be rather expensive. And she was hardly in a good position to negotiate. She and Harry needed that tent, and they needed it <em>now</em>. "I suppose... With everything included as it is... I could just take this tent as it is right now?"</p><p>"We can pack it immediately," the man confirmed.</p><p>Hermione sighed. "All right, I suppose that's fair, then..."</p><p>"Splendid! You won't regret it, Miss!" the clerk said happily. "Here, let me show you how to fold the tent together... You only have to press your wand against this symbol near the tent entrance here..." He drew his wand and put it against a small red circle that was entwined with several runes, and the tent quickly disassembled itself into a small roll of canvas. The rune circle was visible on one side of it.</p><p>"Of course, this won't work while someone's inside, that's a basic safety feature," the old man continued. "To put up the tent, just press your wand against the circle again."</p><p>"All right. Thank you," Hermione said, and the man handed her the canvas roll before he walked to the shop counter.</p><p>Hermione followed along to pay for the tent, which took several long minutes. While she nervously waited for the clerk to count out the Galleons, Hermione once more wondered about the impracticality of wizarding money. This would have been so much faster and more convenient with a simple credit card!</p><p>Finally, the money had been counted, and Hermione put the folded-up tent into her enchanted handbag. She then said her thanks to the clerk and left the store, leaving the door open long enough for Harry to sneak out behind her.</p><p>They quickly made their way into a quiet side alley, where Harry stepped out from under the Invisibility Cloak. Out of view of any passer-by in the main alley, Hermione also took the antidote to the Ageing Potion and turned her hair brunette again.</p><p>"I'm sorry for spending that much money," Hermione contritely said to Harry when she was done. "I didn't think the tent would be that expensive."</p><p>"Don't worry about it," Harry said with a shrug. "The tent is great! Apart from... well..." His cheeks pinked slightly, and Hermione couldn't contain a small smirk.</p><p>"Apart from the one bedroom?" she asked innocently, and Harry's blush intensified.</p><p>"Well, the tent was expensive enough. I didn't want to spend even more money on it," Hermione explained logically and gently embraced her boyfriend. "Besides..." she whispered, "was the last night really that terrible?"</p><p>With a shy smile, Harry shook his head.</p><p>"I'm sure we'll manage," Hermione continued sweetly and pecked her boyfriend on the lips.</p><p>"Yeah... well... should we..." Harry stammered when they parted. "Should we go now? I thought we were on a tight schedule here..."</p><p>"Right," Hermione grinned, but her smile fell when Harry pulled the Firebolt out of his space-expanded backpack. She nervously eyes the broomstick as it hovered in the air and Harry mounted it.</p><p>"You coming?" Harry asked, and Hermione reluctantly stepped towards the broom and got onto it behind Harry, putting her arms around Harry's waist.</p><p>Harry, in the meantime, unfolded his Invisibility Cloak again and then threw it over the both of them. With Hermione and Harry being pressed closely against each other, the cloak easily concealed the two of them, but the broomstick remained uncovered.</p><p>"Harry, what about the broom itself?" Hermione asked worriedly. "We can't have people noticing a broomstick flying all over London!"</p><p>She was surprised when Harry only chuckled in response. "Really? You haven't read about broomstick enchanting?" he asked. "Almost all brooms are enchanted for Muggles not to notice them, and a top-of-the-line broom like the Firebolt certainly is."</p><p>"Oh, all right then," Hermione muttered and Harry craned his neck towards her.</p><p>"You ready?"</p><p>"I- yes..." Hermione replied weakly and strengthened her grip on Harry. Oh, what had she been thinking? This was a terrible, terrible plan! Maybe they should just take a train. She-</p><p>Her thoughts were interrupted when Harry laughed and pushed them off the ground and the broom quickly ascended into the air. When first the ground and then even the roofs of the houses moved away from her, Hermione closed her eyes and pressed herself even closer against Harry.</p><p>"Let's go!" Harry shouted happily and leaned forward, and the Firebolt took up speed.</p><p>"Oh goodness!" Hermione muttered, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this eager to arrive at her parents' in Sevenoaks. And the Firebolt was accelerating still. Yes, they really should've taken the train.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N 1: A happy new year to all of you, and a huge thank you to Proton6 and WH Rutledge for alpha and beta reading this story even during the holidays!</p><p>A/N 2: Omake<br/>For those who are wondering why Harry doesn't ask for more help from Gringotts, like enquiring about his parent's will or asking for Muggle passports, here's how that would have gone...</p><p>...</p><p>The goblin inspected the key and briefly glanced onto Harry before he handed the key back to him. "Very well. That seems to be in order. Someone will escort you to your vault shortly. Anything else?"</p><p>"Uhm, yes," Hermione answered hesitantly. "We- we would also like to make an enquiry into Harry's parents' will while we're here. And would it be possible to acquire a Muggle passport and other identification documents at Gringotts?"</p><p>The goblin eyed her critically. "Tell me, Miss, have you seen the large golden letters above the entrance door? Do you remember what they say?"</p><p>"Uhm- Gringotts Wizarding Bank?" Hermione asked, confused by the unexpected question.</p><p>"Right," the goblin said slowly. "So, Miss, what do you think? Do banks execute wills?"</p><p>"Oh... uhm, not usually, no, at least... well, not without..." she trailed off awkwardly, feeling her cheeks pinking in embarrassment.</p><p>"Do banks usually sell forged documents?" the goblin asked with more venom in his voice.</p><p>"No, no, of- of course not," Hermione said hastily.</p><p>"Then why are you wasting our time with such nonsensical questions?" the goblin barked. "Time is money, after all."</p><p>"Sorry," Hermione muttered. In hindsight, she didn't know why she had expected Gringotts to help them with these matters. Obviously, wills would either be handled by the Ministry or by attorneys, and wizards who required muggle identifications could probably get those somewhere at the Ministry, too. But there was no time to deal with these issues now, when she and Harry had to get out of the country as soon as possible.</p><p>...</p><p>This is only an omake because obviously, Hermione and Harry have enough common sense to not ask such questions.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Where Is Mr Potter?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER SEVEN -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Where Is Mr Potter?</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Albus Dumbledore's glance wandered over the students at the House tables while he sipped from his cup of Earl Grey tea. The Great Hall was always busy during breakfast, but this morning it felt even more lively than usual. Students were talking to each other excitedly and the hall was buzzing with anticipation for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament that would take place in the afternoon.</p><p>At the Slytherin table, Albus spotted Durmstrang's champion Viktor Krum, who was staring sullenly at his plate, ignoring his adoring fans that always seemed to surround him. Fleur Delacour at the Ravenclaw table was trying to appear calm, but her tense posture betrayed her uneasiness. One House table further to the left, Cedric Diggory sat among his Hufflepuff classmates. The boy wasn't even attempting to hide his nervousness while his friends offered him encouraging words and some last-minute advice.</p><p>Albus smiled magnanimously at the young Mr Diggory. He was confident that the boy would do well in the tournament, just like all his competitors. The lad's nervousness was understandable, but there really was no need for it. It was true that the first task might look dangerous at first glance, but it wasn't as if the champions were expected to actually <em>fight</em> the dragons.</p><p>Chuckling slightly, Albus thought back of how Barty and Ludo had proposed to have the champions steal a fake egg from a nesting mother dragon. For a brief moment, he had been horrified. But, naturally, it had taken him only a few seconds to think of over a dozen easy ways to obtain the egg without facing the dragon at all. Surely, the Champions would also realise that and would find inventive solutions that would keep them securely out of harm's way.</p><p>There was no reason to worry about the champions, least of all Harry. The boy had proven his ability to think on his feet in dangerous situations countless times already. That fact was unfortunate in of itself, of course, but now it served to reassure Albus a great deal. Harry would surely do fine this afternoon.</p><p>Albus frowned when one of the blinking buttons proclaiming Cedric Diggory as the Hogwarts Champion caught his attention. He wished the students would behave more maturely and show a more unified front, especially to the visiting schools, but he didn't think there was any reason to intervene. It was natural for children and young teenagers to behave in such a way, but a fine lad like Harry would be above such childish taunts.</p><p>Facing such harmless adversity would only build character, as Albus knew well from personal experience. Hardly a week went by without the Prophet promoting some new sordid rumour about Albus's own personal life. Any sensible person knew not to take these things to heart.</p><p>Thinking about Harry, where was the lad?</p><p>Albus realised that he hadn't seen the boy at breakfast yet. Nor could he spot Miss Granger at the Gryffindor table, who had always been sitting with Harry for the last few weeks. This was a bit strange, now that he thought about it. Albus couldn't remember Harry ever missing breakfast before.</p><p>"Minerva," Albus spoke up and turned towards his colleague to his right, "have you seen Mr Potter this morning?"</p><p>The deputy headmistress frowned. "No," she replied, "but I haven't looked for him. Maybe he ate much earlier to have more time to prepare for the task?"</p><p>"I don't think he has," Filius Flitwick squeaked from one seat further down the table. "I was here before seven, and I haven't seen Mr Potter yet."</p><p>"Minerva, would you mind asking his classmates if Mr Potter is up, and if necessary send one of the boys up to the dormitory to look for him?" Albus asked. He suspected that Harry and Miss Granger had prepared for the tournament until late into the night and might have overslept.</p><p>"Of course," Minerva replied and rose from the table, though she looked slightly annoyed about the request.</p><p>"Thank you," Albus said absently while pouring himself another cup of tea. At the same time, he mused why the seat to his left was also still unoccupied. He hoped that Severus would have notified him if whatever required his attention at the moment was a bigger emergency.</p><p>Albus observed as Minerva first talked with Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom, then with the third and fourth-year Gryffindor girls. Moments later, Mr Longbottom and Miss Weasley hastily left the Great Hall and Minerva returned to her seat.</p><p>"No one has seen Mr Potter or Miss Granger this morning," she reported. "The students will look for them and wake them if they've overslept."</p><p>"Thank you, Minerva," Albus replied with a nod. He reached for his cup of tea again, but was startled when the entrance doors of the Great Hall slammed open and his enraged Potions Master stormed inside.</p><p>"POTTER!" Severus yelled as he strode towards the Gryffindor table. "<em>Where are you</em>!?"</p><p>Albus hastily got up to defuse the situation. He wondered what had Severus in such a foul mood, but then he noted the Potions Master's appearance. Severus's nose was red and blue, apparently broken in several places, and dried blood covered his face and his robes.</p><p>"WHERE IS HE!? WHERE IS POTTER!?" Severus screamed at the students at the Gryffindor table, who cowered away from the irate man.</p><p>"Severus!" Albus said loudly. "What happened?"</p><p>"Potter! That's what happened!" Severus spat, gesticulating wildly. "He attacked me! He stole from me! He even stole my wand! I want to see him expelled! No, not expelled! I want that brat in Azkaban!"</p><p>"Severus, <em>calm down</em>!" Albus was confused by what he heard. Harry attacking a professor? No, this couldn't be true. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding.</p><p>"Those are serious allegations, Severus," Minerva's voice came from behind Albus as she and Filius joined them. "Are you quite sure about this?"</p><p>"Of course I'm sure!" Severus shouted in reply, causing Albus to shoot his colleague a disapproving look. Losing one's countenance like that was quite unbecoming for a professor, especially in front of students, who were watching the exchange with rapt attention. Fortunately, Severus appeared to recognise the rebuke for what it was and calmed down slightly.</p><p>"My apologies, Headmaster, Professors," Severus grumbled. "Yes, I'm sure. I had Potter in detention last night. He arrived, I opened the door, and then I woke up on the floor this morning, only moments ago. The only explanation is that Potter stunned me when my back was turned."</p><p>With a sinking feeling, Albus listened as Severus continued to recount what happened, the Potions Master becoming more agitated the longer he spoke. "He also must have attacked me while I was unconscious. Look at my face! Potter did that! He brutally attacked me! And when I woke up, my storage cupboards were depleted. He stole from me! I want the brat expelled! Where is he!?"</p><p>"Someone is looking for him," Albus replied carefully, though he was still unsure about the veracity Severus's claims. All of this didn't seem like Harry at all. There had to be another explanation, he was sure of it. The boy wouldn't hurt a fly. However, at the same time, Albus suddenly felt much less certain that Harry had simply overslept.</p><p>"Severus-" Albus began, but he was interrupted by another loud shout from the doors – by a high-pitched female voice this time.</p><p>"It's your fault, Ron!" Ginevra Weasley screamed as she entered the hall and descended upon her unsuspecting brother at the Gryffindor table, paying no mind to the assembled teachers nearby.</p><p>"See what you've done now!" she cried, waving around a piece of parchment in front of Ronald's face. "I hope you're proud of yourself!"</p><p>She pushed the parchment into the confused boy's hands before slumping down onto the bench and burrowing her head in her arms. "Hermione and Ha-Harry... They... they left Hogwarts... They're g-gone!" she pressed out between sobs.</p><p>"Gone?" Minerva repeated, aghast.</p><p>"Good riddance, I say," Severus spat.</p><p>"Severus, why don't you go and see Madam Pomfrey and let her tend to your injuries," Albus suggested tiredly. He knew that the Potions Master wouldn't be of any help at the moment. Albus trusted Severus with his life, and he knew that the man would be useful in the war to come, but sometimes he wondered if it was really worth the hassle to keep the unpleasant man around.</p><p>Severus glared at Albus for a brief moment before he turned around with a huff and strode out of the Great Hall.</p><p>With a sigh, Albus then approached the young Weasley siblings at the Gryffindor table. He had to halt briefly when a blonde girl in Ravenclaw colours pushed past him to take a seat next to Ginevra and put a consoling arm around the crying girl.</p><p>In the meantime, Ronald looked down at the parchment in his hands with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He seemed at a loss of what to make of what he had read, as if he was unsure whether he should be indifferent, angry, or sad.</p><p>"Could we please have a look at that?" Albus gently asked the boy. He took the parchment from Ronald's numb hands when the lad nodded absentmindedly.</p><p>Albus knew that he didn't interact much with his students, and he rarely saw their work, but he still recognised Miss Granger's neat script immediately. With a frown beginning to form on his face, he read the letter.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear Ginny,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>By the time you're reading this, Harry and I will be on our way to Australia.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Australia? Albus shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Miss Granger – <em>Miss Granger</em> – was talking about leaving the school? Together with Harry? What were they thinking?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Every year, our lives have been put at risk at Hogwarts, and it has been the same this year. It has become clear to Harry and me that if we want to survive our teenage years, we have to leave the madhouse that is this school. While I doubt that it will do any good, I want to advise you and your brothers to also look for a different school with less inept and negligent teachers – a school where the staff will notice it when a young girl is possessed by a dark artefact or when a basilisk is attacking students. Would you and your family please consider it?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Albus grimaced. Well, it was true that there had been some unfortunate events in the last years involving Harry. But it was hardly fair to blame that on the staff!</p><p>Yes, the incident with the troll in Harry and Miss Granger's first year had been regrettable. Albus had expected Tom to show a bit more finesse there. But luckily, no harm had come of it. Albus and Minerva also had strongly reprimanded Hagrid for leaving first-years unsupervised in the Forbidden Forest at night. That had been another case of poor judgement.</p><p>But no one had asked Harry and his friends to jump feet-first into danger to save an inert copy of the Philosopher's Stone and ruin a perfect trap for Tom! Albus had been rather annoyed with the kids about that, but they were young and had acted with the best of intentions, so he hadn't berated them for their foolishness and instead given them house points for their bravery.</p><p>How Harry and his friends had even gotten through the door to the third-floor corridor, Albus still didn't know for sure. His spells should have kept out everyone except Tom and his servants. Albus had keyed the protective enchantments exactly to the Dark Lord.</p><p>Albus suspected it might have had something to do with young Harry's scar – which would be very upsetting if it was true. Harry's dreams about Tom seemed to support Albus's suspicion, but he had only begun investigating the matter.</p><p>Anyway, Albus had to grudgingly admit to himself that some mistakes had been made in Harry's first year, and later on, too. Albus remembered that Miss Granger had been among those who had been petrified by the basilisk. That probably added to the teens' grievances, but Albus didn't understand why they would hold the teachers responsible for the attacks. Yes, in hindsight, it would have been better to close the school, but how should anyone have known that the monster had been a basilisk? Basilisks <em>kill</em>, they don't <em>petrify</em>. Albus and his colleagues had been sure that the monster had to be some kind of non-deadly Gorgon, or maybe even an Egyptian Stone Scorpion or a Peruvian Stone Viper. But never a basilisk. That had been deemed to be much too improbable to be true.</p><p>Besides, Miss Granger's health had been restored soon enough. And no one had asked Harry to jump into danger once again and fight the basilisk by himself without asking for help from the authorities. Or rather, without asking for help from anyone except Gilderoy Lockhart of all people! What had they been thinking? Well, Harry had only been twelve years old, so Albus didn't blame the boy and his friend Ronald for their rash actions. But clearly, the staff wasn't to blame, either. It had all just been a series of unfortunate events, just like the dangerous situations in Harry's third year.</p><p>With an annoyed shake of his head, Albus continued to read.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Switching schools isn't an option for Harry and me, so we will take our education in our own hands. We will be moving to Australia where we will travel the countryside, out of reach of anyone who might come looking for us.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Albus sighed. Well, there were enough spells to track the teens down if it would really become necessary. There was no way that they had learnt the concealing charms needed to stay hidden for a longer time. But Albus suspected that he wasn't reading the truth, anyway. He couldn't imagine that Harry or Miss Granger would leave their families, or the country for that matter. Obviously, this was nothing but a clumsy attempt at diversion. Taking some comfort from his conclusion, Albus finished reading the letter.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Would you please take care of Crookshanks and Hedwig for us? Unfortunately, we can't bring the animals with us. They are yours now, if you're all right with that. I know that you could use an owl, and you were playing with Crookshanks at the Burrow, so I hope that we're not leaving you a burden.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Do not worry about us, we have everything planned out and will lack for nothing while we're gone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please forgive us for keeping our escape a secret and not saying goodbye in person. I'm sure we will see each other again, albeit in a few years. I hope we can still be friends then, and I'm sure Harry feels the same.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Until then, please keep safe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Your friend,</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Hermione</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Albus lowered the letter and briefly closed his eyes when he reached the end of the text. He was sure that he and the staff would be able to convince the teens to return to school soon enough, but he was still upset and annoyed by their decision. What they had done would be regrettable on any day, but to make it even worse, today was probably the very worst time imaginable for this nonsense.</p><p>"Do you really think they're gone?" Minerva asked disbelievingly. She had read the letter over Albus's shoulders.</p><p>He gave a small sigh in response. "We can probably say that Mr Potter and Miss Granger have indeed left Hogwarts, though I'll still ask the house-elves to look for our wayward students just to be sure."</p><p>He felt a small nudge to his magic and knew that the castle's elves had received his command and had begun their search.</p><p>Considering the next steps, Albus slowly stroked his beard. "I do not think that they have left for Australia. They are probably with their families and don't want us to come looking for them there. I'm sure we will find them at their homes, so I suggest we go there as soon as possible. Whatever happened between Mr Potter and Severus can be handled at a later point once our students have returned."</p><p>"Why do you think they left in the first place, Albus?" Minerva asked, still looking disbelievingly at the letter in Albus's hands.</p><p>"I'm not sure..." Albus began, unsure himself. He put the letter back on the table and walked towards the antechamber of the Great Hall to talk away from the students. "Miss Granger writes that they feel they are put in danger at school, but..."</p><p>"Well, there have indeed been several ugly incidents over the last years that involved Mr Potter," Filius agreed as they entered the small room. "And now the tournament..."</p><p>Minerva raised her eyebrows at the diminutive professor. "You think Mr Potter ran away because he was afraid of the task?"</p><p>Albus had to agree with his deputy that this sounded very much unlike Harry.</p><p>"Well..." Filius shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he didn't know the task. If he only found out about the obstacle but not the objective..."</p><p>Albus frowned. Knowing only about the dragons without the specifics would make the task look rather intimidating, that was true. And it was possible that Harry had explored the grounds to find out more about the task and had discovered the dragons.</p><p>"Mr Potter seems to be in the habit of acquiring information he shouldn't be privy to..." he admitted. "But even then, why would he just decide to leave? Without asking for help first? He didn't ask, did he, Minerva, Filius?"</p><p>The rules forbade the teachers from helping the champions directly, but that only meant that they weren't allowed to take the initiative and train the champions. If Harry asked any specific questions, the teachers would still be free to answer him like they answered any other student.</p><p>Minerva shook her head, a deep frown on her face. "No, he didn't talk to me."</p><p>"I would have been happy to assist the boy, but he never approached me," Filius replied.</p><p>"Hmm..." Albus stroked his beard. "Mr Potter might have thought he wasn't allowed to ask for help. But even if he felt that the task would be beyond his abilities, he could just have entered the arena briefly, cast a spell, and immediately retreated again. Any obligation he might have to compete would have been fulfilled. Why run away?"</p><p>"Did you tell him this?" Filius asked pointedly.</p><p>"No, I didn't," Albus had to admit. "But surely he knew that..."</p><p>Minerva shook her head, a regretful look on her face. "Albus, I can assure you that a thought like that certainly didn't occur to a quintessential Gryffindor like Mr Potter."</p><p>Albus winced. Yes, young Harry most certainly was a Gryffindor. The past years had proven that beyond any doubt.</p><p>"Maybe so," he conceded. "But if Mr Potter is this quintessential Gryffindor, why would he run away in the face of this challenge?"</p><p>That just didn't add up, Albus thought.</p><p>Minerva frowned. "I don't know... Maybe... This might be more likely Miss Granger's doing..."</p><p>"Ah... Quite right, Minerva!" Filius agreed with a small smile.</p><p>Albus nodded slowly. That seemed plausible. Miss Granger certainly had her heart in the right place, but she appeared to be in the habit of judging things prematurely based on Muggle preconceptions when the magical world simply worked very differently. Even he had heard about her little crusade to free the house-elves at Hogwarts against their will.</p><p>"Yes..." Albus said. "She and Mr Potter might have learnt about the task, and in her misguided worry for a friend, Miss Granger might have convinced the boy to do something foolish..."</p><p>"Well... There was no need to run away, but is it really that foolish for Mr Potter not to compete in the tournament?" Filius asked.</p><p>Albus knew what the Charms professor was getting at. There was indeed only a very small chance that Harry's magic was truly in jeopardy today.</p><p>But Albus thought that it still couldn't be risked to have the boy lose his magic, given his importance for the inevitable fight against Voldemort. The Prophecy demanded that Harry face Voldemort himself, and it wouldn't do for the boy to be completely defenceless in that unavoidable confrontation. Therefore, it would be best to have Harry compete in the tournament. It wasn't as if Harry had to place himself in danger there. He only had to enter the arena, cast a spell, and then leave again.</p><p>Besides, even if Harry attempted something more dangerous, Albus was certain that the Prophecy was absolute and that Fate would hold a protective hand over Harry, just as it had in the past. The boy wouldn't come to harm in the tournament, Albus was sure of it.</p><p>Given that Harry wouldn't be in danger, Albus also preferred to not stop Harry's participation in the tournament as it would prove useful in the fight against the Dark. It would be best to have the boy compete to lure Tom's servants out into the open. It might finally give them a chance to catch Tom or at least provide proof for his continued existence.</p><p>"Still, Filius," Albus replied after a brief pause, "it will be the best course of action for Mr Potter to remain in the tournament. I will try to convince him of that when I find him... I hope he and Miss Granger were at least reasonable enough to just go to their homes..."</p><p>"Don't you... don't you have a tracking charm on him?" Minerva asked hesitantly.</p><p>"I wouldn't do that," Albus replied, slightly affronted by her accusation. Well, she was partially correct: There was an alert charm keyed into the enchantments around Harry's family home that would alarm Albus if the property was attacked or the boy severely injured, but Albus wasn't constantly spying on the boy's whereabouts. As Fawkes was able to find people, Albus didn't need such charms most of the time, anyway. Unfortunately, the phoenix just had a burning day and was currently unable to fly.</p><p>"I'm sure they are at their homes," Albus continued. "But if not, there are spells we can use to track Mr Potter and Miss Granger's location."</p><p>"Not if they really don't want to be found," Filius pointed out.</p><p>"Yes, but where would they have come across those charms?" Minerva asked. "It's seventh-year material, I doubt even Miss Granger has read <em>that</em> far ahead."</p><p>"Quite," Albus agreed. "But tracking them magically would only be the last resort. It will be much quicker to just go to their homes. I'm sure they will be there... Minerva, can you go to Miss Granger's home? I'll visit Mr Potter's relatives."</p><p>"Very well," Minerva said. "What will we say to them if they don't want to return?"</p><p>"If Mr Potter and Miss Granger really want to have a break, they will have to convince their guardians of that," Albus replied. He didn't think this scenario was very likely, however. "If Miss Granger's parents and Harry's aunt and uncle demand it, the children could be taken out of school for a while. That is the guardians' prerogative. But Mr Potter would still have to compete in the tournament. The lad is probably just confused right now. I'm sure he will listen to reason."</p><p>Minerva nodded. "I will try to explain the situation to Miss Granger then. I will leave at once."</p><p>"Be sure to look up the work address of her parents in Miss Granger's file, Minerva," Filius chimed in. "At this time of day, they might not be at their home."</p><p>"Quite right. Thank you for your help, Filius," Albus said gratefully. "I leave Hogwarts in your capable hands for the morning, then. I'm sure Minerva and I will be back soon."</p><p>Albus stepped out of the antechamber and quickly made his way to the castle gates to apparate to Harry's home address at Four Privet Drive – a place he had last visited thirteen years ago.</p><p>As he walked along, Albus sighed, disappointed with the two teens. Why did teenagers always have to be so melodramatic? And in the worst moments, too.</p><p>He shook his head. Well, there was no harm done yet. In the end, this would all be sorted out before lunch. Albus was sure about it.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N 1: Thank you to Proton6 and WH Rutledge for proofreading and improving this chapter!</p><p>A/N 2: If you're wondering what is happening to Draco Malfoy in the meantime, reader Kimberly_T has explored that question in a small drabble:<br/>––––––––––––––––––––––––––––<br/>As soon as Draco's teeth were back to normal, he'd owled his father to come and press charges for assaulting a pureblood. Potter's going to be expelled for this!<br/>But then everyone finds out Potter and the mudblood stole from the Potions stores and fled the school overnight, before Father could even arrive at Hogwarts!<br/>Then next morning, Nott loudly asks, "Malfoy, did Potter make a deal with you about the hexing beforehand, or just use you to get what he wanted?"<br/>Draco stares at everyone grinning back at him, and knows his power in Slytherin is broken.<br/>Damn Potter!<br/>––––––––––––––––––––––––––––</p><p>Kimberly_T also wrote a brief Ron POV that pretty much fits with my own take on him, so here it goes:<br/>––––––––––––––––––––––––––––<br/>Fred and George had repeatedly nudged Ron to talk to Harry, to apologize for calling him an attention-seeking liar; couldn't he see Harry was miserable?<br/>Hermione had also pestered Ron to talk, at first... but after Malfoy hexed her, she stopped talking to Ron at all, just went everywhere with Harry. Ron told himself he didn't miss her, either.<br/>And then... They ran away together?! Just ran off and left him behind... They'd left a letter for Ginny, but not even a note for him! Why?!<br/>"You know why," Ginny snapped back. And Ron knew he'd always regret his stubbornness.<br/>––––––––––––––––––––––––––––</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A Fit of Teenage Rebellion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER EIGHT -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>A Fit of Teenage Rebellion</strong>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Hermione?"</p><p>"Hmhm?"</p><p>"<em>Hermione</em>!"</p><p>"What, Harry?" Hermione mumbled into her boyfriend's back as she held onto him for dear life while he steered the broom with gentle movements. She didn't know exactly how high nor how fast they were flying, for she had buried her face in Harry's neck, her eyes shut. She knew, however, that she wouldn't like the answer. Just by the way she felt the Invisibility Cloak around them flutter in the wind, she could tell that they were travelling at incredible speed.</p><p>"Hermione," Harry softly repeated once more, and she could feel that he craned his neck towards her. "I need you to open your eyes. You need to tell me where we have to go."</p><p>Hermione gave a weak sigh and nodded reluctantly. She knew that Harry was right. Slowly, she pried her eyes open, only to immediately clamp them shut again as she saw the rooftops of some London suburb rushing by several dozen metres below them. She wouldn't be surprised if even Harry could feel her heartbeat now, even through the small backpack between them, with the way her heart was rapidly pounding in her chest while she pressed herself even closer against him.</p><p>"Hermione!" Harry squeaked in protest as she tightened her hold of him around his torso. "I need to breathe!"</p><p>"Sorry," she replied hastily and relaxed her grip again. "But could you... could you maybe just reduce the speed and fly a bit lower?" she asked timidly.</p><p>"Fine," he agreed, though she could hear the reluctance in his voice. "But we have to stay a good way up to stay hidden. We can't trust the Cloak to cover us completely all the time."</p><p>Hermione only gave a nod in response, not that Harry could see it. She understood the need to stay at a high altitude so they didn't get noticed, but she was grateful when Harry tilted the broom slightly forward, allowing them to descend by a good distance.</p><p>Her breath still quickened when she opened her eyes again, and she still clung onto her boyfriend, but at least she was finally able to keep her eyes open. They were maybe twenty to thirty metres above a busy road, with nondescript apartment buildings passing by on either side not far below them.</p><p>Hermione could tell that they had long since left the inner boroughs of London behind them, but she realised that she had no idea where they were right now.</p><p>"Uhm... Where have you been going?" she asked Harry while they flew along.</p><p>"Well, I've just been flying south," he replied, looking down at the tip of the broom. Hermione noticed that clipped on the broomstick was the tiny brass compass that she had given him as a birthday gift the previous year.</p><p>"Right," Hermione said. She also noted that she should have been able to tell the direction herself, as the morning sun shone brightly in the sky to their left. But they needed more information on their current location.</p><p>"Can you fly lower so that we can see the road signs over that street?" she requested. "Just briefly, to get the name of the closest towns?"</p><p>Harry nodded and leaned forward, steering the broom to a lower altitude. When she was able to decipher the writing on the direction signs, Hermione was surprised by how far they had come already.</p><p>"We're already near Croydon," she informed Harry. "How fast are we flying?"</p><p>He briefly glanced back at her and tilted his head. "Maybe eighty miles per hour? The Firebolt can go much faster than that, but I didn't want to go too fast or we might have lost the Cloak."</p><p>Hermione nodded pensively. "All right. Keep flying south until we reach the next motorway, the M25. Then turn east. It's not the shortest route, but easiest to follow, and we can't miss Sevenoaks that way."</p><p>"Gotcha," Harry replied and steered the broom a dozen metres higher again. Hermione understood why he did it, but she still felt uncomfortable when she looked down. In her rational mind, she knew she had nothing to fear. Harry was a natural flyer, and as long as she held onto him, she was as safe as she could be. Now, she just needed someone to tell that to her heart, which was still rapidly pounding in her chest.</p><p>But over the next quarter-hour, as the town passed by below them and the apartment complexes slowly gave way to smaller houses and more rural settlements, Hermione started to get used to the height and the outlook. When they reached the M25 motorway and turned east, Hermione still wasn't entirely comfortable on the broom, but her worries about flying and falling gave way to new concerns about the impending meeting with her parents.</p><p>As they followed the motorway towards Sevenoaks and the town appeared in the distance, Hermione's mood became more and more sombre. To be honest, she didn't expect anything but a huge argument to happen between her and her parents. Her parents wouldn't understand what was going on in the wizarding world, nor would they tolerate her leaving the country.</p><p>She was wondering why she had agreed to this the day before. She didn't believe that they would accomplish anything here, and by stopping in Sevenoaks they were wasting time they very well might not have. Dumbledore and others may have already started looking for them. She knew that the smartest thing to do for them would be to get to the coast as quickly as possible.</p><p>But in the end, Hermione knew that this was necessary. She knew how much Harry would beat himself up if he thought he was the cause of a rift between her and her parents. For his sake much more than for hers, she had agreed to come here. Besides, at least trying to talk to her parents was the decent thing to do before she and Harry left the country.</p><p>A few minutes later, they finally reached the outskirts of the town and Hermione directed Harry to her parents' dental practice, which was located in the town centre in a modern building next to a small park.</p><p>Harry landed the Firebolt between two trees in the park, out of sight of any passers-by. Hermione was eager to get off the broom and stood with wobbly feet, leaning on Harry while remaining hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.</p><p>"All right," she said and took a deep calming breath. "I think it will be best if you wait here under the cloak and keep watch while I talk to my parents."</p><p>Harry didn't look thrilled about the plan, but Hermione hesitantly went on. "There... People might already be looking for us. So... if... if someone shows up... just leave! You're in far more danger than-"</p><p>For a brief moment, Harry looked at her in shock before he narrowed his eyes at her. "No."</p><p>"Harry-"</p><p>"No, Hermione," Harry said resolutely. "I'm sorry. You're brilliant, and I love you, but this is a terrible plan. I'll go in there with you, and we'll talk to your parents, and then we'll leave. <em>Together</em>."</p><p>He looked her in the eyes, his jaw set, and she knew there was no point in arguing. If she was honest with herself, she was glad about his insistence to join her. She might very well need the support.</p><p>"Fine," she relented. "Let's just be quick, all right?"</p><p>Harry nodded and put the Cloak and the Firebolt in his enchanted backpack. Hermione then purposefully led the way to the adjacent building that housed her parents' practice. She halted briefly when they reached the entrance and exchanged a last nervous glance with Harry, steeling herself inwardly.</p><p>"All right," she muttered and pushed down the door handle. She stepped inside the practice and gulped at the sight before her. Right in front of her, her mother was leaning over the reception desk, standing next to the receptionist, both women looking up at her.</p><p>Her mother's eyes widened as she saw her. "Hermione?" she exclaimed disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"</p><p>"Hi, Mum," Hermione said timidly. "Is Dad here?"</p><p>"He is-" her mum began, just as the door to one of the examination rooms opened and her father stepped into view, leading a patient to the exit of the practice.</p><p>"-yes, and be sure to floss daily, Mrs Thompson. I'll see you-" he halted when he noticed the company in the reception room.</p><p>"Hermione?"</p><p>"Hi Dad. Mum," Hermione said nervously. "Can we talk?"</p><p>"Why aren't you at school?" her mother asked.</p><p>"And who are you?" her dad added with a look at Harry.</p><p>"Please, can we talk?" Hermione repeated, looking pointedly at the patient and receptionist in the room.</p><p>"We..." her mother began and shot the receptionist a questioning glance.</p><p>"Your other nine o'clock cancelled, but there was a caller with an emergency who will arrive shortly," the young woman supplied helpfully.</p><p>"Thank you, Lauren," her mum said. "Why don't you show Mrs Thompson out and take a smoking break now?"</p><p>"But... I don't..." the woman mumbled and trailed off, her confusion apparent on her face, before she nodded slowly. "Of course," she muttered, got up from her chair and walked to the door, the patient following behind her. Both women gave the newcomers curious looks as they passed them, but Hermione's attention was transfixed on her parents.</p><p>She steadily met her parents' eyes but kept silent until the door fell shut.</p><p>"All right, young lady," her mother said sternly as soon as they were alone. "Please tell us what you're doing here and why you're not at school."</p><p>"Yes. And who's that?" her father added with a look at Harry.</p><p>Harry gulped nervously. "Harry Potter, sir, ma'am. I think we met briefly two years ago in-"</p><p>"Right," her dad interrupted Harry tersely. Hermione knew that her parents hadn't been impressed by the visit to Diagon Alley two years ago, not that she could blame them. Arthur Weasley's curious yet ignorant and condescending attitude towards them and the Muggle world hadn't exactly endeared the wizarding world to her parents. And the subsequent brutish fight between Mr Weasley and Lucius Malfoy had made matters even worse.</p><p>"And what-" her mum began, but Hermione interrupted her.</p><p>"Please, Mum, Dad, could you just let me explain?" she asked.</p><p>"Go ahead," her dad said impatiently.</p><p>"Well..." Hermione paused and ran their fingers through her hair, uncertain where to start. "There... Well, to begin with, I should probably say that I haven't always been quite truthful about the things that happened at school. There-"</p><p>"You lied-"</p><p>"I just didn't tell you everything," she continued, speaking over her mother's question. "Besides, it's not as if you have ever <em>asked</em>, or have ever been interested to hear about Hogwarts..."</p><p>She gave her parents no chance to object as she quickly went on. "Anyway, there have been several incidents over the last three years where our lives were in danger because... because the teachers at Hogwarts were negligent in their duties to protect us. There were monsters in the castle-"</p><p>"What kind of-" her mum began.</p><p>"And we had to fight for our lives on several occasions," Hermione continued, increasing her voice. "Please, we don't have the time to explain everything. Just know that our lives were in danger because of the staff. And now-"</p><p>Both her parents were looking at her with a mixture of disbelief and scepticism. Her dad shook his head slightly. "What do-"</p><p>"<em>And now</em>," Hermione continued on, "this year, there is this international school tournament at Hogwarts with two visiting schools. And Harry got entered into it against his will and the teachers were forcing him to participate, without even offering to help him. So now he was forced to fight against some monsters and-"</p><p>Her dad scoffed dismissively. "Sure, monsters."</p><p>"Really!" Hermione said testily. "So, to keep Harry safe, we decided that we had to leave Hogwarts. And-"</p><p>"You've left the school?" her mum blurted out.</p><p>"Yes, and we-" Hermione confirmed and tried to continue, but she was interrupted by her mother's jubilant exclamation.</p><p>"Oh, that's wonderful news, dear!" her mum gushed joyously. "We've always hoped that you would come to your senses and return to a proper school!"</p><p>Hermione blinked. "I'm-"</p><p>"Now you can finally go to St Mary's, like we had always planned!" her mother announced happily.</p><p>"It will be difficult to get in there now that the term has already started, but we'll manage," her dad added with a confident nod. "I play golf with the deputy head, I'll give him a call. I'm sure we can work something out."</p><p>"You'll be so much happier there," her mum added with conviction, giving her a bright smile.</p><p>Hermione was gaping at her parents, flabbergasted by their reaction. "I- I'm not-" she sputtered, "I'm not returning to the Muggle world! It's more complicated than that!"</p><p>"What?" her dad asked, both her parents clearly taken aback.</p><p>"Harry and I... we can't return to the Muggle world," Hermione tried to explain. "We'd be found immediately and dragged back to Hogwarts, Harry especially. The Ministry and the headmaster would force him to compete in the tournament, whether he wants to or not. Harry has to hide, and I'm going with him. Even without him, I'd be in danger, too. We're going to leave the country."</p><p>"Don't be ridiculous!" her dad said dismissively. "If Harry's parents withdraw him from the school, no one will be able to do anything about it."</p><p>Hermione shook her head with impatience. "That won't work. The Ministry and Dumbledore don't care about laws like we do. They'll drag us back anyway."</p><p>She paused and glared at her parents. "And Harry's an orphan, if you have forgotten everything I've ever told you about him already," she added heatedly. "And we'll stay together. He'll never return to his vile relatives who have abused him ever since he got there!"</p><p>"Abused him?" her dad repeated with furrowed brows.</p><p>"Yes! They did!" Hermione insisted, getting more irritated by the second. "You think I would lie about that?"</p><p>"No, no, I just-" her dad relented and paused briefly. "All right... If his guardians are mistreating him, we'll bring the matter to the authorities and they'll look into it."</p><p>"No! Didn't you listen?" Hermione shouted with frustration. "The only way for us to be safe is to get out of the country. We have to leave. We <em>will</em> leave. I-"</p><p>"Enough of this!" her mum said loudly. "I'm glad that you decided to give up this whole magic nonsense-"</p><p>"<em>I'm not</em>-" Hermione began hotly. From the corner of her eyes, she noted that Harry was silently following the exchange, an incredulous look on his face.</p><p>"But you'll stay here and go back to a real school," her mum went on. "You'll be happy at St Mary's, you'll see. And if things are truly this bad with his guardians, Harry can make a statement with the authorities, and I'm sure they'll find a nice foster family for him. His new guardians can withdraw him from the school, and that will be the end to this silly tournament business."</p><p>"I'm sorry, but you're misunderstanding the situation," Hermione growled with barely contained rage. "I'm not 'giving up this magic nonsense', nor will I go back to 'a real school'. I will-"</p><p>"Of course you will!" her mum said loudly.</p><p>"I won't even live here!" Hermione yelled. "I can't! I just came to say goodbye. But I see now that it was a mistake to come here."</p><p>"That's quite enough!" her dad said sternly. "You'll go back home now, Hermione, and we'll discuss this in the-"</p><p>"It's <em>hopeless</em> with you!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing up her arms in frustration. She shook her head and turned towards Harry, who looked back at her helplessly. "Let's go, Harry."</p><p>"You're going nowhere, young lady!" her mum yelled and stepped towards Hermione, reaching for her left wrist just as she was about to turn and leave.</p><p>Hermione whirled around when she was yanked back by her mother. Almost instinctively, Hermione reached inside her coat for her wand.</p><p>"Young lady, this has been quite enough of this attitude! You will go home now and-" her mother stopped her rant abruptly when she noted the business end of Hermione's wand pointing straight at her.</p><p>"<em>Let go of me</em>," Hermione hissed, her voice trembling with anger.</p><p>"He-Hermione?" her mum breathed in shock, looking at her with wide eyes. She loosened her grip on Hermione's wrist, and Hermione used the opportunity to yank herself free, taking a few steps back, her wand still levelled at her mother.</p><p>"What the bloody hell are you doing!?" her dad shouted at the same time and made to advance towards her until he, too, suddenly halted in his tracks.</p><p>"Stay back!" came Harry's low voice from next to Hermione, and she noticed that he had also drawn his wand, pointing it at her father. Harry had been silent the entire time, and he was clearly overwhelmed by the situation now, but Hermione had never been more grateful for his unquestioning support.</p><p>Despite her outrage, Hermione still felt bad when she saw the fear in her parents' eyes.</p><p>"I- I'm sorry," she began with a thick voice. "Please don't try to stop us. I'm sorry, Mum, Dad, but I have to go. We <em>have</em> to leave. There is no other-"</p><p>Hermione stopped when the entrance door to the reception room was suddenly pulled open. For a brief moment, Hermione thought that the receptionist had returned or that the next patient had arrived. But before she could even think of lowering her wand, one of the last people she wanted to see right now stepped into view.</p><p>With a stern expression on her face, and looking woefully out of place in her dark-green robes, Professor McGonagall entered the Grangers' dental practice.</p><p>"Ah, Miss Granger. And Mr Potter, too. Well, I'm glad that I found-" the Transfiguration teacher halted when she took in the scene before her.</p><p>Hermione was frozen in shock at the sudden appearance of the professor, and glancing sideways, she saw that Harry also stood unmoving, looking equally troubled. Neither of them had lowered their wands.</p><p>"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall demanded with indignation. "Miss Granger, Mr Potter, put your wands away at once!"</p><p>Hermione stood rigidly, her eyes darting back and forth between her parents, Harry, and the professor. She felt her heart racing in her chest and the blood rushing in her veins. This wasn't the way this was supposed to go. They didn't have time for this!</p><p>She knew that she had to act now, and she came to a snap decision. She moved her wand away from her mother in a steady arch to her right and flicked it in a well-practised pattern.</p><p>"<em>Stupefy</em>!"</p><p>Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected to find here, she wasn't prepared for her top student attacking her out of nowhere. Only the old woman's eyes widening in surprise as the red beam of light sped towards her indicated that she realised what was happening before the Stunning Spell hit her squarely in the chest. She crumpled to the ground, hitting the floor with a dull thud.</p><p>"What did you do?" Hermione's mum cried in a shrill voice.</p><p>"Don't worry, she'll wake up in a while," Hermione replied, trying to keep her voice steady.</p><p>She exhaled deeply. "I'd love to continue arguing with you, but we have to go. I just performed underage magic. I don't know if... if it got tracked. I'm not sure, but the Ministry might send people soon. If they do... tell them they can try searching for us if they want to waste their time, but they won't find us."</p><p>She paused and gave her shaken parents a last long, sad look. "Neither will you. I'll try to keep in touch. Goodbye."</p><p>Ignoring her parents' shouts of protest, Hermione turned around and walked to the exit of the practice. Harry caught up with her as she stepped outside. Silently, with hanging shoulders, they walked the short distance to the small park area, where Harry pulled his broom and the Invisibility Cloak out of his enchanted backpack.</p><p>As he readied the broom, Harry turned towards Hermione, giving her a mournful look. "Hermione, I..."</p><p>She only shook her head in response.</p><p>"Let's just go," she said resignedly.</p><p>Harry nodded and sat down on the Firebolt, Hermione climbing on the broom behind him.</p><p>"Oh, and give me the backpack," she asked softly before they took off. Harry glanced back at her questioningly but slipped off his backpack and handed it to Hermione.</p><p>"Thanks," Hermione mumbled as she threw it over her shoulders. She then put her arms around Harry's waist and snuggled close against him. "Much better to hold you like that," she added as an explanation.</p><p>Harry turned his head towards her and gave her a small smile before he threw the Invisibility Cloak over them and pushed off the ground. They took off into the sky, the Firebolt accelerating quickly. Hermione looked down and watched as her parents' practice first got smaller and then disappeared behind other buildings. A mile or so to her right, she could spot her parents' house – her childhood home – before it also moved out of her view.</p><p>"Go south-east," she said to Harry with a hollow voice. "That will keep us away from the bigger towns and the Channel is narrowest there."</p><p>He only gave a small nod in response as he adjusted the course of the broom.</p><p>As they flew along, Hermione pressed herself close against Harry, leaning her head into the crook of his neck. As the adrenaline slowly left her body, the full realisation of what had just happened hit her. She had attacked a teacher – yet <em>another</em> teacher – and had violently threatened her parents. She couldn't help but think that she was the most terrible daughter who ever lived. But there hadn't been another option. She and Harry needed to escape and couldn't let anyone stop them. Harry's life may very well have depended on that. And hers might have, too.</p><p>She thought back to the argument with her parents and how they just hadn't listened to anything she had said. She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't hold back some tears at the thought of how damaged her relationship with her parents had become. If she was honest with herself, things had happened precisely in the way she had expected. This fight hadn't come as a surprise to her.</p><p>She snuggled tightly against Harry, taking comfort from the close contact. She felt his heavy breath as she held onto him and could see that he was also in a sombre mood. She worried that he would somehow blame himself for what had happened, even when it hadn't been his fault by any means.</p><p>They travelled onward in silence for a long while. It wasn't until Hermione could spot the blue of the sea glistening in the distance when Harry took one hand off the broom and cupped Hermione's hands, giving her a small squeeze.</p><p>"I... I'm sorry," he said softly.</p><p>"It's okay," she mumbled back. "My parents... they... they just didn't listen. They didn't understand. They never understood. But... but I still think it was good that we went there. At least... at least I could tell them in person, even if they didn't listen in the end."</p><p>"I'm sorry," Harry said again. "If I just-"</p><p>"That wasn't about you," she interrupted him, her voice gentle but firm. "It has never been about you. This... this has always been about my parents not caring or understanding that I'm a witch. With or without you, this would have happened sooner or later... Please don't think that this is in any way your fault. It had nothing to do with you."</p><p>He was quiet for a few long moments before he sighed and gave her a small nod. "All right."</p><p>"Good," Hermione replied softly and leaned her head against his neck once more.</p><p>A few minutes later, they reached the coastline and flew out over the open sea, the waters of the Strait of Dover passing under them.</p><p>It was a beautiful day. To their left, the morning sun illuminated the White Cliffs of Dover, and the waves of the English Channel below them shone in a bright blue.</p><p>As she looked back and saw the chalk cliffs and with them the island of Great Britain slowly vanishing in the distance, Hermione realised, almost with some surprise, that this was really happening. They were really doing this. She was really leaving Britain behind, and with it her home country, practically all the people she knew, the school, her parents, <em>everything</em> – everything but Harry.</p><p>But in the face of this realisation, Hermione's predominant feeling was not anxiety nor fear nor sadness, but excitement for their new adventure and relief that their escape had been successful. As she snuggled closer against Harry while the French coast slowly came into view ahead of them, Hermione knew that she was right where she was supposed to be and that everything would be all right.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A huge thank you to Proton6 and amidland for alpha and beta reading this chapter and making it much better!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Bienvenue en France</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER NINE -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Bienvenue en France</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione breathed as the Firebolt carried Harry and her along the French coastline, high above the waters of the English Channel. Under a cloudless sunny sky, wide beaches with bright sand extended down the coast as far as her eyes could see.</p><p>Harry nodded in response while he steered the broom, following the coastline southward.</p><p>"Where do you think we should stop?" he asked.</p><p>"Maybe it would be best to get away from the seaside," Hermione suggested. "The Ministry or Dumbledore might send people to search near the coast if they suspect we went to France, but they can't search the whole country."</p><p>"Right," Harry agreed. "Do you have a destination in mind?"</p><p>Hermione surveyed the coast and pointed her hand in the direction of a small bay a few miles ahead. "You see that?" she asked. "I think that's a river estuary. It might be the..."</p><p>She furrowed her brows, trying to remember the country's geography from her previous trips to France. "The Somme, I think. We could follow the river further inland until we reach the next bigger city, which would be... Amiens, I believe?"</p><p>"All right, sounds good," Harry said and leaned forward, accelerating slightly and adjusting the course of the broom. By now, Hermione was getting used to the speed and no longer clamped onto him with fright. She was even able to enjoy the view and the peaceful scenery of the empty beaches around them.</p><p>Harry turned inland at the bay, which was indeed the estuary of a larger river. They followed the river, which for several miles was routed through a straight canal in a south-eastern direction. After they had passed the first smaller town, the river started meandering more, and lightly wooded floodplains extended to either side of it.</p><p>They passed many smaller settlements as they flew along, and half an hour later, the outskirts of what appeared to be a larger town slowly came into view ahead of them.</p><p>"That's probably Amiens," Hermione guessed.</p><p>"I reckon we can always look at the road signs to get our location," Harry remarked and pointed to a multilane road to their left. "Should I get closer?"</p><p>She nodded. "Yeah, maybe."</p><p>He leaned to the left and took them closer to the motorway. Soon, they could decipher the direction signs, which confirmed that they were ten miles – no, it was kilometres in France – ahead of the city of Amiens.</p><p>"We need to find a more secluded spot to put up the tent," Hermione said and scouted the surrounding area of fields, pastures, and groves. "See the woods over there?"</p><p>"Looks good," Harry affirmed and swerved the Firebolt southward to a small forest that was the largest patch of woodlands in the area. The trees had mostly shed their leaves, but some coloured leaves were still clinging to the branches, giving the forest a beautiful autumnal flair despite the approaching winter.</p><p>"Perfect, let's land here!" Hermione said happily when she spotted a small clearing, and Harry descended the broom. There were a few earthen pathways close-by, but they were reasonably out of sight of any possible passers-by, and the closest village was a few miles away.</p><p>Hermione remembered what she had read about the underage magic laws in France and she knew that she and Harry would be able to practice magic here. Underage magic wasn't prohibited in the country, and she was confident that they were out of range of the magic detection alarms that protected all muggle settlements in France. Besides, the only spells they were likely to perform wouldn't trip any alarms, anyway, as only more advanced or more dangerous spells got tracked.</p><p>"You want to let go of me and get off the broom now?" Harry asked with some amusement, and Hermione realised that they were floating right above the ground and he was waiting for her to step off the broom.</p><p>"Oh, right," she muttered and jumped off the Firebolt. Harry stepped next to her, hoisting the broom over his shoulder.</p><p>"Looks good, doesn't it?" he said while he walked across the clearing. "We should be well hidden here."</p><p>"Yeah..." Hermione nodded absent-mindedly while she prepared to put up the disassembled tent. She laid the tightly folded roll of canvas on a clear patch of grass and pressed her wand against the rune circle on the fabric. Immediately, the canvas expanded, forcing her to jump back as the tent assembled itself in the course of mere seconds.</p><p>"Wow, that was fast!" Harry exclaimed, looking with amazement at the small white tent.</p><p>"Yes, it was," she agreed and parted the canvas of the tent entrance to step inside.</p><p>"Home, sweet home," she mumbled with a smile as she entered the space-expanded tent that would be their abode for the foreseeable future.</p><p>Harry chuckled, but as Hermione looked around, she really felt that she could get used to living here. The rooms were spacious and well-furnished, and the wood-panelled walls and the canvas ceiling gave the inside a comfy atmosphere.</p><p>Harry looked equally impressed as he walked around, inspecting the tent. Hermione watched him with a fond smile as he briefly sat down on the couch in the living area to test the seating, checked out the contents of the drawers and cabinets in the open kitchen, tried out the water taps in the bathroom, and looked inside the empty cupboards in the bedroom.</p><p>"This is great!" he proclaimed after a while, and Hermione agreed wholeheartedly. She was glad that he liked the tent and wasn't upset over the amount of money they had spent on it.</p><p>"Yes, it is," she said. "I guess we could unpack our belongings now, and make ourselves at home."</p><p>Harry agreed, and they spent the next hour sorting their belongings into the shelves and cupboards in the tent. Hermione put all the potions and potion ingredients she had pilfered from Snape in one of the cupboards in the living area. Afterwards, she filled the bookshelves next to the cupboard with the books she had "borrowed" from the Hogwarts library.</p><p>"What now?" Harry asked when they were done.</p><p>"It's almost noon," Hermione said, glancing at her watch. "Should we get to the closest village and find ourselves something to eat and buy some groceries? And we have to exchange some money first."</p><p>"All right... But the First Task starts at two o'clock," Harry reminded her. "We could probably listen in on it on the Wizarding Wireless."</p><p>"You think we can pick up the British network here?" she asked sceptically.</p><p>"Oh... I dunno..." he said with a shrug and stepped towards the cupboard with the Wizarding Wireless. "Let's try it out?"</p><p>Hermione watched with raised eyebrows as he fumbled around with the magical radio, turning the buttons in a seemingly random pattern. At first, only some blurred voices speaking in quick French came from the Wireless. But suddenly, much to her surprise, Harry managed to pick up the British program. Two female voices with British accents were discussing the latest song of the Weird Sisters.</p><p>"There we go!" he announced happily.</p><p>"All right, well done! Let's try to be back at two, then," Hermione said. "We should have enough time to eat something and get to the bank and a supermarket..."</p><p>She paused and frowned slightly. "We should probably take some Ageing Potion for that. Especially for the bank. It would look weird for two teenagers to exchange a lot of money..."</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>Twenty minutes later, Hermione had wrapped her arms around Harry's waist, pressing herself close against him on the Firebolt while they rapidly approached the village ahead of them. They could see the city of Amiens in the distance but had decided that a smaller village would do for now.</p><p>The person she was holding on to didn't look much like her boyfriend, much to Hermione's discomfort. It had been the first time that Harry had taken the Ageing Potion, and she had to admit that it had been strange to see Harry transform into a young man in the mid-twenties. She could understand how he had been weirded out the day before when she had unthinkingly tried to kiss him while under the effects of the potion. It wasn't that he didn't look attractive – he did! – but even holding him while they flew along felt slightly wrong, despite her knowing in her rational mind that the person in front of her was still her boyfriend.</p><p>It wasn't the only thing to darken her mood as they approached the village. Hermione scowled as she thought about Harry's response when she had offered to enlarge his clothes. He had only shrugged and pointed out that all his muggle clothes were a loose fit anyway, as they were all the cast-offs from his overweight cousin. The only thing she had to do when Harry transformed was to lengthen his sleeves and trouser legs a bit.</p><p>Once more, she cursed the Dursleys in her mind for their spitefulness and cruelty. She sighed deeply and strengthened her hold on Harry, giving him a tight squeeze.</p><p>"We will get you some proper clothes as soon as possible," she told him in a voice brokering no argument.</p><p>"It's really not-" Harry began, but she interrupted him at once.</p><p>"We might be living like vagabonds, but that doesn't mean that we have to look the part!"</p><p>She chuckled. While that might be technically true – they were living in a tent, after all – it was obviously not an apt comparison. Their tent was larger than most flats, and they didn't have to worry about their living expenses. What they were doing was actually more akin to taking a several-years-long vacation.</p><p>"Honestly though, the better we blend in the better," she said. "We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves, not even in the muggle world. And we'll draw less attention when you don't look like a homeless person..."</p><p>Harry winced at that, and Hermione quickly backpedalled. "Sorry," she mumbled guiltily. "I didn't mean- I mean, I'm sorry-"</p><p>"It's all right," he said, glancing back at her and giving her a comforting smile. "I get what you're saying. If you think it's important, I'll get some new clothes... But not today, we don't have the time."</p><p>Hermione nodded. "Yeah... Tomorrow then."</p><p>They flew over the village until they spotted a small bank office in the village centre at the main road. As they searched for a safe place to land the broom, they also noticed two cafés and a bar as well as a small grocery shop close-by.</p><p>They entered the bank first, where they posed as British tourists to exchange two-thousand Pounds into French Francs. A tiny fraction of that money they then spent on a delicious lunch at one of the cafés and on their grocery shopping.</p><p>Hermione wasn't surprised when her very limited knowledge of the French language proved insufficient to make herself understood at the bank or order at the café, but luckily, all the people they had interacted with were able to speak English well enough, albeit with obvious disdain. She resolved to look for some books to improve her French language skills. To her surprise, Harry appeared eager to join her in her studies when she told him of her decision.</p><p>But they didn't have time for more shopping that day. When they had bought everything they needed to get by for a few days, they got on the broom to return to their tent, hurrying to make it back in time for the start of the First Task.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>"Is it on yet?" Hermione asked as she exited the bedroom and rushed towards Harry, who was sitting on the couch in the living area, listening to the Wizarding Wireless. They had both taken the antidote of the Ageing Potion and she had just readjusted her clothes again.</p><p>"No, they've just been talking about the tournament, it hasn't-" he halted when the presenter on the Wireless made his announcement.</p><p>"We now switch live to the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts!"</p><p>"Dear listeners," another male voice took over. "Today, we are reporting live from the Hogwarts grounds with the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. My name is Gareth Jordan and I will be your reporter on site. But for now, let's listen in on the opening announcements..."</p><p>"You think he's related to Lee?" Harry asked.</p><p>"Maybe," Hermione said with a shrug just as yet another voice sounded from the Wireless.</p><p>"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen-"</p><p>"I think that's Bagman," Harry whispered.</p><p>"Yeah," Hermione said, and they listened as the ministry official opened the event with a blustering speech.</p><p>She occasionally shot nervous glances towards Harry, unable to stop imagining how he would suddenly start screaming because his magic was stripped from him. Rationally, she knew that there was no real risk for that to happen, judging by all the books she had read, yet she couldn't help but feel worried about him.</p><p>She returned her attention to the Wireless when Bagman moved on to the description of the task.</p><p>"Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we have a very exciting challenge for our champions today. Yes... Ladies and Gentlemen, for the First Task, your Ministry of Magic has brought in... four... great dragons! Yes, you-"</p><p>"Dragons!?" Hermione screeched. "Have they lost their mind!?"</p><p>"Wow..." Harry muttered and shook his head disbelievingly. "That's..."</p><p>"Yes, you've heard right, Ladies and Gentlemen!" Bagman continued over the noise of the excited audience. "For the task, each champion will have to gather a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon!"</p><p>Harry looked at Hermione, an incredulous look on his face. "You know..." he said flatly. "I think we've made the right decision to get out of there."</p><p>Hermione snorted. "Yes, we definitely have..."</p><p>But a moment later, she lowered her gaze and bit her bottom lip with worry. "I just hope the other champions won't get hurt too badly..."</p><p>Harry nodded, looking equally troubled. "Yeah..."</p><p>"Now, before we begin, I have one more announcement to make," Bagman went on. "Unfortunately, I have to report that our youngest champion, Harry Potter-"</p><p>He halted when there were many cheers, shouts, and whistles in the audience. "As I said, Mr Potter apparently had a bad case of the jitters earlier and he... well, it seems that young Harry has decided to run away rather than compete today."</p><p>There were even more roars from the audience this time, and Hermione could clearly make out the derisive laughter.</p><p>"I don't see <em>them</em> volunteering to fight against a dragon," she muttered, a scowl on her face.</p><p>"Yes," Bagman continued. "Mr Potter has run away and hidden himself, and we were unable to find him in time... Now, it is certainly disappointing to see that the Boy-Who-Lived has turned out to be a craven, but we can't allow the tournament to be delayed because of this..."</p><p>Hermione gave Harry a worried look, unsure how he would react to the insults. She was relieved, however, when he didn't appear upset. Instead, he almost seemed amused.</p><p>"I'm not mad," he assured her when he caught her eyes. "Really, I'm not. I'm just... I'm actually just relieved that I'm no longer part of this madness."</p><p>Hermione nodded slowly. "I am, too. And are you... are you worried about your magic?"</p><p>Harry gave her an uncertain shrug. "Not really. Besides, I'm not sure if I would want to fight a dragon to keep my magic."</p><p>"Yeah. I wouldn't, either," Hermione said and scooted closer to him on the couch. She put her arm around his shoulders and leaned towards him, giving him a tender look. "Whatever happens... just know that I love you no matter what happens."</p><p>Harry smiled back at her, leaning his forehead against hers. "I feel the same," he said with a low voice. "I love you, too."</p><p>He surprised her when he caught her lips with his, giving her a soft kiss that she happily reciprocated. When they parted again, Bagman had finished his announcements and the reporter had taken over on the Wireless.</p><p>"And now, dear listeners, the dragon handlers are bringing in the Welsh Green dragon for the first champion, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons..."</p><p>Hermione and Harry listened with trepidation as the reporter described first Fleur's and then Viktor Krum's attempts at getting past their respective dragons. Fleur received some light burns before she managed to enchant her dragon to sleep, and Krum got some points deducted when he injured his dragon, causing it to destroy some of its eggs, but overall the two champions were able to complete the task successfully. Hermione was just relieved that both competitors managed to get their golden egg without the dragons maiming them or worse.</p><p>"And now..." the reporter said and paused dramatically. "Finally, we get to the champion of Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, who will face off against the Hungarian Horntail!"</p><p>Hermione gulped. "I read about those. They are supposedly the most aggressive and most dangerous breed of dragon..."</p><p>Harry shook his head, a dark look on his face. "How is that fair, anyway? Shouldn't they all have the same kind of dragon? Or even better, the exact same dragon?"</p><p>"They shouldn't be fighting dragons to begin with!" she said pointedly.</p><p>"Fair enough," Harry muttered. "Let's just hope Cedric doesn't get hurt."</p><p>"Now, the Horntail is brought into the arena!" the reporter continued excitedly. "Oh, it doesn't look happy! Merlin! What a monstrous beast! And now... The dragon handlers are done, they leave the enclosure, and... ah, yes, here, Cedric Diggory enters the arena!"</p><p>They could hear the cheers of the audience in the background as the commentator went on.</p><p>"He enters the arena... and... yes... well... why is he just standing there? He... he seems frozen in shock... Oy, lad, get going! You have to- Ah, he raises his wand, and... Didn't it work? He tries again... And- Ah, now something happened! A transfigured dog? Clever, but will it be enough against a Horntail?"</p><p>There was a tense silence for a brief moment, and Hermione's breath quickened while she anxiously waited for the report to continue. She had grabbed Harry's hand and was squeezing it tightly.</p><p>"Yes... now, the dog approaches the Horntail... It is distracted now!" the commentator shouted. "That's his chance!"</p><p>"And Diggory makes his move, and- BE CAREFU- AAHH!" he ended with an abrupt cry.</p><p>Hermione slapped her hand over her mouth when she heard the screams of the audience in the background.</p><p>"Oh no! Oh Merlin!" the reporter groaned. "Someone get him- Oh no! Where are the dragon handlers? And the healers? Ah, there they are! Well... he is still moving... Oh Merlin, what an ugly sight!"</p><p>"What happened?" Harry whispered, but Hermione could only shrug her shoulders helplessly. She was just relieved that Cedric apparently hadn't been killed by the dragon.</p><p>It took a few moments until the commentator had regained his composure and resumed the report.</p><p>"I... I'm sorry, dear listeners... the Hogwarts champion was hit by the Horntail's flames head on. The healers are carrying him out of the arena as I speak... The Horntail smashed the transfigured dog with a swipe of its tail and then turned its attention to the boy just as he tried to get to the nest. It blasted him with its flames, and... and caught the entire left side of Diggory's body with it, and both his arms as he tried to shield himself... The dragon handlers distracted the dragon before it could kill the boy, but I dare say that Mr Diggory will certainly be in Saint Mungo's for quite some time... He will probably carry the scars for the rest of his life..."</p><p>"Oh, that's terrible," Hermione muttered. A part of her felt sorry for the Hufflepuff, and she was disgusted with the teachers and the Ministry officials who had been responsible for setting the task. But if she was honest with herself, the biggest part of her just felt relief that it wasn't Harry who was transported to Saint Mungo's right now.</p><p>Judging by the expression on his face, Harry felt equally conflicted.</p><p>"Well, that concludes the first task," the reporter went on. "A disappointing ending for sure. Whether Mr Diggory will be able to further compete in the tournament or not, with his injury and his failure of the task, and with the Boy-Who-Lived refusing to compete, Hogwarts already appears to be out of the running for winning the tournament. A sad day for Hogwarts and the Ministry, which will also have to answer some pointed questions on whether the safety of the champions was given all due consideration... And with that, we return to-"</p><p>Harry turned off the Wireless before he slumped back into the couch.</p><p>"Dragons!" he muttered and shook his head. "I still can't believe it."</p><p>"Poor Cedric..." Hermione said, giving off a deep sigh. "But honestly, they were lucky that no one got killed."</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry agreed, and they just leaned on each other for a long while, each lost in their own thoughts.</p><p>"So..." Hermione then began, sitting up and giving Harry a curious look. "Do you feel any different?"</p><p>Harry furrowed his brows. "No..."</p><p>Hermione watched with bated breath as he leaned forward, picked up his wand, and flicked it.</p><p>"<em>Lumos</em>!"</p><p>Relief flooded her when the tip of his wand lit up with a bright light.</p><p>"You still have your magic!" she exclaimed happily and threw her arms around her boyfriend, giving him a strong hug.</p><p>"Of course I do," Harry replied as he put his arms around her. "I never doubted you."</p><p>"I wonder..." she muttered, not letting go of him. "I wonder if whoever entered your name got punished by the Goblet of Fire instead..."</p><p>"They should've been, right?" Harry asked.</p><p>"Yes, I think so," she said with a nod. "And they would've deserved it, too! I think it's clear now that they entered you in hopes that you would die in the task..."</p><p>"Yeah, probably," Harry said and gave off a small chuckle. "I kind of hope it was Snape... but I doubt it. He was too unhappy about it."</p><p>"Maybe a Death Eater sympathiser among the older Slytherins?" Hermione suggested. "Maybe the Wireless will have more on it in the coming days, or we can buy a copy of the Daily Prophet in some magical quarter in France..."</p><p>"Sounds good," Harry agreed. "So, what now?"</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>The rest of the day passed quietly. They were still in a sombre mood after what had happened at the First Task, and they both tried to relax after the eventful day. Hermione curled up on the couch with a book on Arithmancy, while Harry tended to the maintenance of his Firebolt with his Broomstick Servicing Kit, ensuring that the broom would be in pristine condition for their continued travels.</p><p>Even though the kitchen was well-equipped with kitchenware and magical appliances, they only made some sandwiches for supper that evening. After they had eaten, they settled onto the couch next to each other.</p><p>"Well, we did it," Hermione said as she leaned her head on Harry's shoulder. "We're out of Britain, and we're warm and comfortable and safely hidden..."</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry muttered, and she could see that something was troubling him.</p><p>"What is it, Harry?" she asked softly.</p><p>He exhaled deeply. "It... it's Cedric! Hagrid wanted to tell me what the task was, remember? If I had gone, I would have learnt about the dragons and I could have warned Cedric, and he would have been better prepared. It's my fault that-"</p><p>"Please stop it, Harry," Hermione said with a sigh.</p><p>She turned towards him and took his hands in hers, giving him a sad look. She thought they really needed to do something about his habit of taking the blame for everything bad that ever happened around him. She suspected it had something to do with his upbringing.</p><p>"It wasn't your responsibility to make sure that Cedric was prepared," she tried to make it clear to him. "That was the teachers' job."</p><p>"I could still have helped..."</p><p>"So could I!" she pointed out. "I would've joined you if you had gone to Hagrid. And I advised you against going. Do you think <em>I'm</em> responsible for Cedric's injury?"</p><p>"What? No!" Harry protested.</p><p>"Do you think it's Hagrid's fault?" she pressed on. "He could have just shown the dragons to Cedric, after all."</p><p>"Well, no... not... not really?" Harry said with a frown. Hermione had to admit that he was right to be a bit hesitant with his answer. If Hagrid had wanted to help Harry, he should have helped Cedric, too. But that wasn't the point right now.</p><p>"Then why do you think that you're responsible?" she asked him. "Others could have helped, too."</p><p>"I- It's just-" Harry mumbled, but then he shook his head and slumped back into the couch. "You're right. It wasn't our job to tell him."</p><p>"No, it wasn't," Hermione said emphatically. "I suppose Hagrid could have told him at least. But really, it wasn't his responsibility, either. This is the organisers' fault. This is onto Dumbledore and the Ministry. Using dragons was just insane! And the teachers forcing the champions to go in blind makes it even worse."</p><p>Hermione scowled as she pondered the teachers' negligence once again.</p><p>"Honestly, just by forcing you to compete and not offering any help when they <em>knew</em> you would have to fight against a dragon, they were... It pretty much makes all of them attempted murderers in my eyes..."</p><p>"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," Harry concluded and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as she leaned with her back against his side. "We escaped. We're safe, and I'm out of the tournament no matter what happens now..."</p><p>He kissed her cheek and nuzzled into her neck. "Thank you for saving my life," he whispered.</p><p>"I was just the one to suggest first that we should escape," Hermione said and turned her head towards him, giving him a tender look. "But we did it together. We're relying on your money for all of this, and you're flying the broom, and-"</p><p>"It's nothing..."</p><p>"It certainly is something," she disagreed, but she kept her voice low. "And while my life might have been in less immediate danger than yours, I think after what has happened over the last few years, we can say that I wasn't safe at Hogwarts, either. So, you're saving me as much as I'm saving you here."</p><p>They stared into each other's eyes for a long while, until Harry relented first.</p><p>"Fine," he said, giving her a fond smile. "We did it together."</p><p>"Together," Hermione repeated and pecked him on the lips before she cuddled against him again.</p><p>As she ruminated over all that had happened over their long, eventful day, she was relieved beyond measure that they had successfully escaped from Hogwarts and Magical Britain, and she was more certain than ever that they had made the right decision. They were safe now, safer than they had ever been at Hogwarts. New difficulties might lie ahead of them, and she knew that their adventure had only just begun, but she also knew that whatever challenges the future held for them, they would face them together.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A huge thank you to Proton6 and amidland for proofreading and improving this chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A Taste of Freedom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER TEN -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>A Taste of Freedom</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"NOOO!"</p><p>Hermione was woken up abruptly by her boyfriend's scream in the early hours of the morning. She bolted upright and fumbled for the bedside lamp while Harry groaned and whimpered as if in severe pain. Finally, she found the lamp and turned the light on.</p><p>She leaned over Harry and looked at him with worry. He was thrashing around in the bed, his face glistening with sweat.</p><p>"Harry!" she shouted and shook his shoulders. "Harry! Wake up!"</p><p>"No, no! I..." Harry moaned, but he seemed to awaken slowly. She shook him again and finally he blinked and opened his eyes, looking around, disorientated.</p><p>"Hermione?" he mumbled weakly, frowning at her in confusion.</p><p>"Yes, Harry, it's me," she replied softly. "It's all right. Everything is all right. You were just having a nightmare."</p><p>Harry sighed and gave her a sombre look. "I... No, not a nightmare..."</p><p>Before she could ask him what he meant, Harry went on to explain.</p><p>"It was... Voldemort. He... he isn't happy about what happened at the tournament..."</p><p>"Oh, Harry," Hermione muttered sympathetically and hugged him tightly. "What did you see?"</p><p>"He... was angry... Wormtail was with him, Voldemort tortured him... And there was another man, I didn't recognise him... Voldemort didn't address him by name... But he was the one who put my name into the Goblet of Fire, because he lost his magic, and Voldemort..."</p><p>Harry took a shuddering breath, trembling slightly. "He said that a Squib was of no use to him, and that he should pay for his failure, and he... he killed him."</p><p>"I'm sorry... that you had to see that..." Hermione said sadly. She didn't feel any sympathy with Voldemort's latest victim, however. If she was honest with herself, she was relieved that the person responsible for entering Harry into the Triwizard Tournament had met his due end.</p><p>"Are you... are you all right now?" she asked hesitantly.</p><p>"I'm fine," Harry mumbled, but he shrunk under her hard stare.</p><p>"Just... the scar still hurts a bit," he admitted reluctantly</p><p>"I'm sorry," she said and cuddled closer against him, trying to offer him what comfort she could. "And... you know... I think we should look closer into that, by the way. It's not natural for old scars to hurt like that. And you having these dreams is strange, too..."</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry nodded. "That's why I asked Sirius about it, but he only told me to tell Dumbledore..."</p><p>"We'll find a solution," she promised him. "We'll keep it in mind. It might be difficult to talk to healers, but maybe we can try to get more books on healing and such during our next visits to magical quarters."</p><p>"That sounds good," Harry mumbled sleepily and closed his eyes again.</p><p>She also lay back in the bed, trying to relax and fall back to sleep. Only now, she noted that heavy rain was drumming on the roof of the tent, and she could hear the wind howling through the woods outside. It sounded as if a heavy storm was passing over them, but luckily, the tent appeared unaffected by the elements.</p><p>Pondering Harry's dream and what it meant, it took her a while to settle down again, but slowly she drifted back to sleep to the sounds of the wind and the rainfall.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>They got a few more hours of sleep that night, and by the time they got up in the morning, the storm had passed, leaving only a light drizzle behind.</p><p>It had gotten cold, too, but the tent proved to be worth its price once more. It had stood unwavering in the storm, and the enchantments and the magical fireplace ensured that it was cosy warm inside despite the freezing temperatures in the forest.</p><p>"So, what's the plan for today?" Harry asked as they sat down for breakfast.</p><p>"Maybe we could do some more shopping in Amiens?" Hermione suggested while she poured both of them some tea. "Mostly to get some clothes for you. And maybe some other small things..."</p><p>"All right," Harry agreed, though she could see that he wasn't exactly thrilled about the shopping trip. "Once the rain passes, maybe?"</p><p>Hermione nodded. She also didn't want to go outside in the cold rain.</p><p>"You know, I think we should move further south," she mused. "The tent should handle colder temperatures fine, but... well, I think it would still be nice if it was a bit warmer, don't you agree?"</p><p>Harry nodded eagerly. "We would be further away from Britain, too."</p><p>"Right. And you have never seen the Mediterranean, have you?"</p><p>He shook his head. "No. You know I've never been outside Britain."</p><p>"Then we absolutely <em>have</em> to go there," Hermione stated resolutely.</p><p>"It's... how far?" he asked.</p><p>"Five hundred miles, maybe," Hermione estimated.</p><p>"All right." Harry nodded. "That's a day on the broom, maybe a bit less. Shouldn't be too difficult."</p><p>"Tomorrow then?"</p><p>"Yeah," Harry agreed with a smile. "If the weather is good."</p><p>"Great," Hermione said. "More tea?"</p><p>They continued with their breakfast, talking about their possible destinations. Or rather, it was mostly Hermione who talked about the places she had visited and that she thought Harry should see, while he listened with a fond smile. When they were done with their meals, Hermione decided that they could start planning their self-studies until the rain passed.</p><p>"Let me show you the books I got and how I sorted them yesterday," she said to Harry and dragged him to the bookshelves in the living area.</p><p>"See, we have all the textbooks up to seventh-year for all our classes," she began and pointed towards the different sections of books on the shelves. "Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defence, Herbology, Care, Runes, Arithmancy, History... Here, even Astronomy, though honestly, I don't think we'll need much of it, we can just look up that stuff in muggle books, those are much better. Herbology and Care we can't really practice, so we'll have to focus on the theory. But we can brew Potions."</p><p>She paused briefly before she went on. "And, of course, I have taken more than the prescribed textbooks, so we have many more books on advanced Runes, Charms, Transfiguration, Rituals, Duelling. See this book here? It's a rare compendium on Arithmantic Numerology. It's great reference material and really well written. And then-"</p><p>She halted abruptly when she realised that she had been rambling. "Sorry," she muttered, blushing slightly.</p><p>"It's all right," Harry said with an amused smile. "This does look good, though I think I'd rather read the books on duelling... So, for now, I guess we'll just grab the textbooks for this year and start reading up on everything?"</p><p>"Well, yes, but first, I'll make a schedule and everything," Hermione clarified. "And we can help each other. Like when you're done faster than me with some spell in Defence, you can help me. And I can help you with the more theoretical parts in most subjects in return."</p><p>Harry gave her a weary look, but Hermione wasn't discouraged by his lack of enthusiasm. "Oh, come on! All of this will be much better than at Hogwarts, trust me! Like, without Snape, imagine how much fun Potions might be! And, also, we won't be writing essays, obviously, so we'll have more time for more useful stuff."</p><p>Harry laughed out loud. "Hermione Granger calling essays useless?"</p><p>"Well," she paused and gave him an impish smile. "I get why they did it at school. But it's not the best way for us to learn now. We'll have much more time and we'll be able to progress faster when we just test each other. And we can use the time for something else... For leisure, and travelling, and for shopping and cooking and such, of course. And, oh, I also thought I would bring you up to speed with Runes and Arithmancy!"</p><p>Harry frowned slightly at that. "Really?"</p><p>"Yes," Hermione went on excitedly. "I mean, you won't be doing Divination any longer, it's rubbish anyway, so you have some time... to..."</p><p>Hermione trailed off when Harry gave her a funny look. She suddenly felt that something was wrong, even though she couldn't figure out what it was.</p><p>"What is it, Harry?" she asked worriedly.</p><p>"It's just... When have we decided that?" Harry asked with a neutral voice.</p><p>Hermione opened her mouth several times but couldn't form the words. "I... Uhh..."</p><p>"I'd say it's a pretty big decision what subjects I take," Harry said, slowly becoming more upset, "Don't you think... I'd really prefer you'd talk to me instead of making all the decisions about my future without involving me."</p><p>"What? I... No! I'm not..." Hermione exclaimed, paling when she realised that she had been doing exactly that. "Oh, Harry! I'm sorry!"</p><p>She rushed towards him. "I'm sorry!" she repeated and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. "I've always been the one to take care of stuff like that, to make our study plans at school and all, so I just... I just didn't think... But you're right. I should have talked to you... "</p><p>"Thanks, Hermione," Harry breathed as he relaxed in her arms, and she could hear in his voice that he was just relieved as her that they had avoided a fight.</p><p>"I'm sorry..." she mumbled again, still not looking at him.</p><p>"It's all right," he said softly and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a comforting hug. "I'm grateful for what you're doing, and you're much better at planning all of this, but... Just talk to me, okay? I... I'd be a fool to disagree with you when you make a good point, but... I'd like to have a say in my own future..."</p><p>"Of course, Harry!" she confirmed. "You don't have to do anything with Runes or Arithmancy if you don't want to, we can even try to buy some books on Divination in-"</p><p>"No! Gosh, no!" Harry laughed. "You're right, it's rubbish. And I'll gladly give Runes and Arithmancy a try, but I won't promise anything yet. Thank you for offering to tutor me."</p><p>"Thank you, Harry," she breathed, very relieved that their disagreement had been resolved so quickly. She was also proud of him for how he had handled this. He had stood up for himself without losing his calm, when she had been acting inconsiderately towards him. She knew that she could be a bit bossy sometimes, she was working on it, but it was reassuring to see that he wouldn't let her run roughshod over him in the meantime.</p><p>"We're good?" she asked, still not letting go of him.</p><p>"We're good," Harry confirmed with a smile, giving her a peck on the lips as confirmation.</p><p>With the matter resolved, they began working out their schedules for their self-studies. Hermione drew up some timetables, and they compiled their course goals for the coming months, adjusting Hogwarts' curriculum to their interests and current needs. As they wrote down what they wanted to learn, Hermione felt more and more excited to finally be able to study at her own pace, and even Harry seemed satisfied with their study plans in the end.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>It was almost noon when they were done with everything, and by then, the worst of the rain had passed over them. After a quick lunch, they got ready for the broom ride to Amiens.</p><p>As they wanted to buy clothes for Harry, he couldn't take Ageing Potion this time. Hermione also decided against taking the potion, after having experienced how weird it had been for her when her boyfriend had been transformed into someone else the day before.</p><p>Instead, they decided that a simple spell to change their hair colour would be a sufficient disguise for now. She felt certain that they would be safe in the muggle world. In a larger city, they wouldn't stand out, and they would simply be two teenagers going clothes shopping. And even on the off-chance that they were spotted and identified, they would be leaving the area the next day anyway and flying south. They would be long gone before the news reached Britain and Dumbledore.</p><p>"Well, what colour do you want your hair to be?" she playfully asked Harry after they had donned their coats.</p><p>Before he could answer, she flicked her wand and hit him with the Colour Switching Charm, turning his hair neon green.</p><p>"Hermione!" Harry squeaked as he observed himself in the mirror near the tent entrance, but he recovered quickly and pulled his wand to retaliate. "Oh, you're on now! <em>Colovaria</em>!"</p><p>The charm hit her, and Hermione snorted when she saw that her hair taken a deep aquamarine blue</p><p>"<em>Colovaria</em>!" she cast again, adding pink highlights to Harry's hair. Harry responded by giving her hair orange tips.</p><p>A few minutes later, they were both panting from laughter, both their hair having cycled through all the colours of the rainbow.</p><p>"Although we both look very pretty right now," Harry said between chuckles, "wasn't the point of this to look inconspicuous and not draw attention to ourselves?"</p><p>"Right," Hermione said with a snort. With his hair sporting the Gryffindor colours red and gold, and hers charmed to a bright violet, they <em>probably</em> were a bit too noticeable.</p><p>She grinned and aimed her wand at herself. "I guess you're right... So how about... this? <em>Colovaria</em>!"</p><p>"Please don't," Harry groaned as he saw her ginger hair. "You look like a Weasley. That's weird."</p><p>"Then how about... <em>Colovaria</em>!"</p><p>"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed in mock outrage. "If you don't change your hair back <em>right now</em>, I'll have to break up with you! I won't date Malfoy's sister!"</p><p>"Sorry," she chuckled and changed her platinum-blonde hair into a darker shade of blonde.</p><p>"That's fine?" she asked.</p><p>"I suppose," Harry agreed, and he immediately changed his hair into the same colour. "At least we match now."</p><p>"I could say something about the inappropriateness of us looking like siblings now," Hermione began with a laugh before she tossed him a woollen cap from the coat stand. "But you need to wear a cap, anyway, to hide the scar."</p><p>"Right," he said and put it on, adjusting the cap to cover his forehead.</p><p>"You know..." she mused as she looked at him. "Maybe we should get you some contacts instead of glasses. That would also make you less recognisable. Have you ever thought about it?"</p><p>"No..." Harry said and shrugged. "But sure, it might be good... "</p><p>"Not right now, but we'll keep it in mind," Hermione said with a nod and exited the tent.</p><p>Harry picked up his broom and followed her outside. As he stepped on the broom and waited for her to get up on it behind him, he shot her a mischievous grin.</p><p>"You know what?" he asked. "Now that you'll tutor me in Runes and Arithmancy, I think you should let me tutor you in return, too."</p><p>"In what?" Hermione wondered as she sat down on the broom and wrapped her arms around Harry.</p><p>He grinned at her. "Flying."</p><p>"What!?" Hermione gasped. "No! Why?"</p><p>"Because it'd be fun..." Harry said with a shrug. "But also because at some point it might be useful for you to know how to fly a broom."</p><p>"I <em>can</em> fly a broom," Hermione insisted.</p><p>"You mean you can float steadily five yards above the ground," Harry retorted. "No offence, but that's not flying, Hermione."</p><p>Hermione harrumphed, offended by his totally accurate description of her broom-flying skills.</p><p>"We have only one broom, anyway," she pointed out logically.</p><p>Harry shrugged. "For now..."</p><p>"<em>Haarryy,</em>" Hermione whined, giving him what she hoped was a cute pout.</p><p>He didn't budge. "No, I'll learn Runes and Arithmancy, and you'll learn to fly a broom."</p><p>"Fine," she sighed. "You win."</p><p>"Great!" he exclaimed, grinning at her happily. "I look forward to it."</p><p>Forgoing an answer, she only harrumphed again.</p><p>"I love you too," Harry chuckled and pushed off the ground.</p><p>"Love you too," Hermione mumbled back and strengthened her hold on him as they ascended past the treetops and slowly picked up speed.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>The flight to Amiens didn't take long, and they landed in a park in the city centre less than ten minutes later.</p><p>They spent some time walking through the city, admiring the beautiful old town with its many historic buildings and an old medieval cathedral. The town would have been even more charming if it wasn't for the grey weather, but they weren't here for sightseeing anyway.</p><p>They found a department store, where they bought two jackets, jumpers, trousers, and several shirts for Harry. He also bought himself some underwear, but insisted on going to do so on his own. In the end, they spent a good sum of money in the store, but Hermione felt that it was worth it, and Harry didn't complain either. After his initial reluctance, Hermione thought that he had actually been quite eager about finally being able to select some clothes to his own liking.</p><p>When they were done with the clothes shopping, Hermione dragged Harry into a large bookshop, where she was happy to find several language learning books for French. Harry also found two cookbooks on French dishes written in English, and Hermione agreed with him that they needed to buy some books to help them with their cooking. They both knew the basics, mostly from observation, but neither of them had ever cooked a full meal before. They would need some good instructions if they wanted to cook by themselves during their travels.</p><p>After looking through the cookbooks and picking out some recipes they wanted to try, they also bought some more groceries before they returned to the tent late in the afternoon.</p><p>That evening, Hermione and Harry tried out the kitchen in the tent for the first time. They needed some time to get all the magical appliances to work, but luckily, they had seen how most of it was operated during their stay at the Burrow that summer.</p><p>They made a French chicken stew, making a mess of the kitchen and of themselves in the process, but in the end, they managed to cook a tasty enough meal, even though the sauce was a tad too salty and the baked potatoes as the side dish were slightly burned. Given that it had been their first real attempt at cooking, Hermione concluded that they had done well, and they were only going to get better with more practice.</p><p>Instead of cleaning up the kitchen manually after they had eaten, Hermione decided to look through the Charms books to find household spells that would make things easier for them. She knew that Mrs Weasley had used plenty such spells at the Burrow, but unfortunately, neither Harry nor her had paid enough attention to learn the incantation and wand movements themselves.</p><p>It took them half an hour of joint research until they found suitable charms, and it took them one more hour of practice – during which they wrecked dozens of dishes – but in the end, they were able to clean up the kitchen with a few flicks of their wands. The broken plates and dishes were also easily repaired by quick Mending Charms.</p><p>"So, what do you want to do now?" Hermione asked when they fell onto the couch after their impromptu Charms lesson.</p><p>"I dunno," Harry said with a shrug. "You want to read now?"</p><p>"Well, you know me, I'd never mind reading a good book," she replied with a small smile. "But I doubt that you want to read some tome on magical theory now. So, what do <em>you</em> want to do?"</p><p>Harry frowned briefly before his lips curled into a smirk and he leaned towards her.</p><p>"This," he whispered, pecking her on the lips. She wasn't unhappy to reciprocate and deepen the kiss, but it wasn't what had been on her mind.</p><p>"Honestly, Harry," she muttered when they parted again. "We can't snog all the time."</p><p>"Why not?" he asked with a pout, causing her to laugh.</p><p>She gave him another peck, but then she sat upright and gave him a more serious look.</p><p>"I'm actually asking because it's important. We... we will spend a lot of time together, and... well... Now that we're on the run and it's only the two of us, what would you like to do in your spare time? I mean... don't you..."</p><p>She trailed off, uncertain what to say. If she was honest with herself, she was afraid that she would bore him. She also realised how little she knew about him.</p><p>"I mean, what do you like to do for leisure? What do you enjoy doing?"</p><p>She chuckled when she saw the mischievous grin on his lips. "Besides snogging," she added.</p><p>Slowly, Harry's smile faltered as he actually considered the question.</p><p>"Huh..." he mumbled. "I... I actually don't know. In Hogwarts, there was usually something going on. And when we had some downtime, I usually just went along with whatever the other guys were doing."</p><p>Hermione nodded, waiting for him to continue.</p><p>"I... I like flying," he said eventually, stating the obvious to her. "I did enjoy playing games with Ron and the other boys, though I actually don't really care much for chess."</p><p>"But... what about during the holidays?" she asked hesitantly. "What about before Hogwarts?"</p><p>Harry shifted around in his seat uncomfortably, giving her an embarrassed look. "I... The... the Dursleys... They just had me working in the house. They never... they would never give me anything. So, when I wasn't working, I was just alone with my thoughts... trying to avoid my cousin and his gang..."</p><p>"Oh, Harry," Hermione mumbled and wrapped her arms around him tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry... Do you... do you want to talk about it?"</p><p>"Do I have to?" he asked, the reluctance clear in his voice.</p><p>"No, of course not," she assured him. "I think it might be good... But I won't badger you about it. Just... whenever you're ready..."</p><p>"Thank you..." he breathed. "But... just not yet, please..."</p><p>"That's all right," she agreed. In truth, he had already opened up more about his life with his relatives than ever before.</p><p>"So..." she said, trying to get the conversation back on track. "About what you'd like to do now... Is there anything you'd like to do? Sports? Reading? Any games for us to play?"</p><p>Harry looked thoughtful for a while. "Well... as I said, I do like flying..."</p><p>"It will be hard to find enough people for a Quidditch game here," Hermione pointed out.</p><p>"No, no," he said quickly. "Quidditch is nice, too, but to be honest, I like just flying my broom even more..."</p><p>Hermione nodded slowly. She could see that he would like the sense of freedom that came with it, after he had been trapped all his life.</p><p>"Is that why you wanted to teach me flying?" she wondered.</p><p>"Well, yeah..." Harry said. "I mean, it might be fun to just fly around and explore the countryside... and, well..."</p><p>He gave her a slightly embarrassed look. "And I can fly faster and more... well, more recklessly, I guess you'd say... when I don't have you on the broom... I wouldn't do those more fun manoeuvres with you even when I know it's safe..."</p><p>"Well, thank you, I appreciate it," Hermione replied with a smile. "All right. I get it. I'll try to learn so that we can fly together, though I'd need a broom. But you could always go flying by yourself, too. Just be careful with your aerobatics, please."</p><p>"I always am!" Harry insisted. "I mean, I've never crashed just by flying. I've only been hurt when there was some attack or something like that during a match."</p><p>"All right, Harry," she relented. No matter how dangerous the stunts looked that he did on his broom, she knew he had a point there.</p><p>"So, we have flying," she said after a pause. "What else is there?"</p><p>"Well, you know..." Harry said hesitantly, "I actually don't <em>hate</em> reading. I don't think I would mind reading a good book from time to time. Just not those textbooks that you read for fun... No offence," he added quickly.</p><p>"None taken," Hermione replied, chuckling. "That's fair. We can get more books. I'm in favour of that. Of course I am. What genres do you like?"</p><p>"Uhm... I don't know." Harry shrugged awkwardly. "I didn't have books at the Dursleys beside my textbooks for school. The only thing Dudley never got was books..."</p><p>"Go figure," Hermione muttered and exhaled deeply.</p><p>"Well," she concluded. "I'm sure we'll find some bookshop in a bigger city that sells books in English. We can find out what interests you then. And we could also buy some board games, or maybe even a radio or a CD player for entertainment..."</p><p>She nibbled her bottom lip while she thought about it. "We don't have electricity, of course, but devices powered by batteries might work in the tent... I don't know, we would have to test it..."</p><p>"That sounds good," Harry agreed.</p><p>"Yes, well, I'm glad that we'll find some stuff for you to do to not get bored... And in the meantime..." she said with a low voice and leaned towards him. "I guess snogging will have to do."</p><p>Harry laughed out loud before she captured his lips with hers, and he happily wrapped his arms around her.</p><p>Before they lost themselves in each other, Hermione contemplated the small glimpses into Harry's life with his relatives that he had given her, and how he had never known a normal childhood. It was heart-breaking and maddening, but she tried to push down her anger and focus on the future. His silent suffering was finally over. And here, on the run, in a tent in the middle of nowhere, he would get a better semblance of a normal life than he had ever gotten while living in Britain. She would make sure of it.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A huge thank you to Proton6 and amidland for proofreading and improving this chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Bad Press</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>- CHAPTER ELEVEN -</strong>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Bad Press</strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Expelliarmus</em>!"</p><p>Hermione jumped out of the way of the Disarming Charm.</p><p>"<em>Tarantallegra</em>!" she yelled.</p><p>"<em>Rictusempra</em>!"</p><p>She ducked under the Tickling Charm and aimed her wand again.</p><p>"<em>Expelliarmus</em>!"</p><p>"<em>Expelliarmus</em>!"</p><p>This time, she didn't manage to get out of the way in time. The Disarming Charm hit her, throwing her back and ripping her wand out of her hand, just at the same time as Harry was knocked back and disarmed by her own spell.</p><p>"Wow!" Harry laughed while he picked himself up from the ground and fetched his wand. "I don't think we ever had a draw before!"</p><p>"No, we haven't," Hermione agreed as she reached for her wand and stood up, panting heavily.</p><p>"Again?" Harry asked with a smirk.</p><p>"No, thanks," she wheezed and walked over to a tree stump next to their tent, slumping down on it. "I'm done. I think I'd rather just sit and enjoy the view for a while."</p><p>"Hmhm, yes... It is a beautiful view," Harry agreed as he joined her, sitting down next to her.</p><p>They had put up their tent on a hillside overlooking the French Mediterranean coast, a good distance east of the city of Marseilles. They were several miles away from the closest village, out of reach of the magic detection alarms that covered all muggle settlements in France.</p><p>From where they sat, they had a great view over the Côte d'Azur and the sun rising over the bright blue sea in the southeast.</p><p>It was their third day here, near Marseilles. Contrary to their initial plan, they had made two stops on their journey south. They had made camp for one night close to Troyes and for two nights in the forests near Lyon.</p><p>Today was their sixth day in France overall. They hadn't been on the run for even a week yet, but Hermione felt that they were already getting used to living in the tent and fending for themselves.</p><p>Magic really made everything much easier, she thought. Their tent was easily assembled and disassembled, with everything inside staying in place even when the tent was folded. And the few household charms they could perform saved them much time with cooking and cleaning and any other chores. While magical society was aggravating, magic itself was truly amazing.</p><p>They still knew nowhere near as many helpful charms as witches like Mrs Weasley, but Hermione hoped that they would maybe find some helpful books on the topic during their first visit to a magical quarter later that day.</p><p>Primarily, they wanted to make the trip to get some information on the happenings in Magical Britain. They were no longer within range of the British network on the Wizarding Wireless, and their French wasn't good enough yet to make sense of the local broadcast. They were practising almost every day, but learning the language would take a while.</p><p>"So... what time should we go to Marseilles today?" Harry asked and pointed towards the distant settlements along the coast ahead of them. The city of Marseilles was actually behind some hills out of their sight, but Hermione didn't see the need to correct him.</p><p>"In the afternoon? Right after lunch?" she asked.</p><p>"Or we could go now," Harry suggested.</p><p>"Right now, we have to freshen up," she pointed out and smirked at him. "And you're just trying to get out of your first Arithmancy tutoring session!"</p><p>"What? I'm not!" he protested with a laugh, but then he gave her a more earnest look. "Really! I liked how you explained Runes to me. I'm sure you'll do great with Arithmancy, too."</p><p>"All right, thanks, Harry," she smiled as she gazed back at him, his emerald eyes no longer obstructed by glasses. He had exchanged those for contact lenses on their last shopping trip in Lyon.</p><p>"But sweet words won't save you either!" she announced, shaking herself out of her reverie. "We have our schedule, and it states that the mornings are for our studies. Let's keep it that way, all right?"</p><p>"Fine," Harry agreed with a theatrical sigh, though she could tell by the small smirk playing on his lips that he wasn't too upset about the plan.</p><p>If she was honest with herself, she was relieved how well he was adjusting to their new study routine. Harry had never been a very enthusiastic student at Hogwarts, and she had been worried whether he would be willing to actually keep up with his studies now that they were alone. She had been afraid that she would have to badger him too much about it and that it might strain their relationship. But he had surprised her once more with his eagerness to actually learn more about all the subjects they were studying. She sometimes wondered whether she had brought about his newfound studiousness herself, whether he was trying to change his habits for her sake, or whether his potential had only surfaced now simply due to the lack of any distractions – distractions in the form of other friends, Quidditch, the latest gossip surrounding his person, or their regular life-threatening adventures. However, most of the time she was simply grateful for how well they got along even during their studies no matter the reasons for it.</p><p>According to the schedule they had drawn up, they always started their lessons in the morning with one of the more theoretical subjects. On some days, Hermione would tutor Harry in Runes or Arithmancy, and on other days they would read their textbooks for Herbology and Care, where they couldn't do any practical work. They didn't expect that they would need to handle many magical plants or creatures in the future, so they thought that it would be enough to read the books and quiz each other on the contents. They did the same for History, though the textbooks in the subject were rather substandard in Hermione's opinion. It was why they had agreed that they would try to get better and more interesting books on History and wizarding culture during their next shopping trips.</p><p>The second half of their mornings was scheduled for studying the theory and then practising Transfiguration, Charms, or Defence, and once a week they would brew a Potion and study its properties.</p><p>All in all, they spent less time on their studies than at Hogwarts, often only half a day, yet Hermione could already tell that they were progressing through the curriculum at a much faster pace than before. That they didn't write any essays contributed a lot to that, but they also usually moved much faster from theory to practice than at school.</p><p>So, even with them having to cook and clean up after themselves, they somehow still had more spare time than she was used to from Hogwarts. During their last shopping trip in Lyon, they had bought some books – Harry was currently reading and enjoying the first book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy – some board games, and even a battery-operated CD player and radio to keep them entertained.</p><p>Their recent duelling was another fun activity they had picked up over the last days. It had started out as a friendly spar when Harry had challenged Hermione a few days ago over whose turn it was to wash the dishes after breakfast that morning. They had both enjoyed the competition and the exercise, and by now, they were duelling as a fun morning exercise almost every day. Naturally, they didn't use many fancy spells and certainly no dangerous curses for it. The physical exercise was more important to them than the spell practice. With the way she was always getting exhausted far too soon to her liking, Hermione knew that she could use the training.</p><p>After a few minutes, Hermione had recovered her breath and felt that they should start moving again. They had a schedule to keep, after all.</p><p>"Let's go back inside," she suggested, and Harry reluctantly stood up and followed her into the tent.</p><p>They each took a quick shower to freshen up, and when Harry joined her in the living area of the tent a short while later, Hermione had already fetched the third year Arithmancy textbook from the shelves and was waiting for him on the couch.</p><p>"All right, so, Arithmancy..." he said as he sat down next to her. "Where do we start?"</p><p>"Yes, well, I thought I'd give you a quick overview on some of the basic principles today," she told him. "You should be familiar with a lot of it just from maths in primary school."</p><p>Harry frowned at that. "I thought Arithmancy was about predicting the future? Much like Divination?"</p><p>Hermione snorted. "Yes, that's how it was explained to me by Professor McGonagall before I chose the class."</p><p>She shook her head with bemusement over the wizarding world's odd terminologies.</p><p>"But really, it isn't," she continued. "Or, well, I guess it kinda is, but only in the same way as muggle physics is about predicting the future. I mean... like in physics, when you know the equations and what you're doing, you can predict the results, and I guess wizards would call that predicting the future, too."</p><p>"Ah... okay, that makes sense, I think," Harry said, nodding slowly. "Even when I don't know anything about physics, too."</p><p>"No, me neither," Hermione said. During the previous summers, she had always tried to somewhat keep up with what she would have been taught in muggle school, but she wasn't really following the classes closely. "Not much, at any rate."</p><p>"Well, anyway," she continued. "It's still not the same, of course. Magic is much less precise than science, so Arithmancy is much fuzzier than physics, too."</p><p>"All right, I think I get it," Harry said. "I think it sounds interesting. Just... I just don't know what I would use it for."</p><p>"Oh, Arithmancy is needed to calculate properties of spells and potions in magical research," she explained quickly. "And Runes and Arithmancy are both used in Enchanting, like for the enchantments of our tent, or for any other magical devices."</p><p>"You mean... with Runes and Arithmancy I could learn to build my own racing broom?" Harry asked excitedly.</p><p>"Uhm, well, I suppose..." Hermione confirmed, frowning slightly. "You'd need to be good at Charms, too, but... yeah..."</p><p>"What are we waiting for?" he asked enthusiastically. "Let's get started!"</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>Over the next two hours, Harry proved to be a bit rusty in his maths skills, but he more than compensated for that with his enthusiasm and his rather impressive ability to grasp most of the overarching principles quickly. They progressed through the first four chapters of the third-year Arithmancy textbook within their first tutoring session, and Hermione once more wondered where Harry had hidden all this academic talent during their years at Hogwarts.</p><p>They spent the second half of the morning reading the textbook and practising spells for Defence Against the Dark Arts. At noon, they had a quick lunch before they left for their outing in the afternoon.</p><p>"You want to fly the broom today?" Harry asked Hermione when they stepped outside the tent.</p><p>"I... I think I'll pass," she replied with little enthusiasm.</p><p>She had flown the Firebolt for a first time two days prior, with Harry sitting behind her, giving her instructions. He had put his arms around her and had gently guided her movements, but while she had appreciated the close contact, she hadn't enjoyed flying the broom much. The Firebolt had responded jerkily to the slightest motion, accelerating and swaying around much too fast to her liking. That was exactly how a top-of-the-line racing broom was supposed to react, of course, but for her, it had been rather unnerving. She had been even more tense on the Firebolt than on the substandard brooms she had sat on before at school and at the Burrow.</p><p>"You know..." Harry mused and shot her a bright smile as she climbed on the Firebolt behind him. "Maybe we could get you a broom today!"</p><p>"Harry, that's much too expensive!" Hermione protested.</p><p>"Nothing fancy," he said and pushed off the ground. "Just a good, steady travelling broom. Maybe a Comet 260 or a Cleansweep Five or Six."</p><p>"Haarryy..." she groaned.</p><p>"I'm sure you'll enjoy flying it much more," he stated confidently, turning his head and grinning at her. "I got the impression that you didn't like the Firebolt much."</p><p>"I... No, I didn't," she admitted reluctantly. "But Harry, we can't spend that much money on things we don't really need. And you shouldn't spend that much money on me anyway!"</p><p>"It's really not that expensive," he argued. "Besides... aren't you the one who's been saying all the time that it's <em>my</em> money? So what if I want to give you something after all you've done for me?"</p><p>Hermione gave off an exasperated sigh, but she felt her resistance crumble. It wasn't fair for Harry to play that card right now, but he also wasn't wrong. It <em>was</em> his money, after all.</p><p>"And it would be nice if we could fly together," he added, giving her a hopeful look.</p><p>"All right," she relented, giving him a soft squeeze. "Thank you..."</p><p>"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed excitedly and leaned forward, accelerating the Firebolt further.</p><p>They flew westward, following the coastline, and they reached the city of Marseilles a quarter-hour later. Harry landed the broom in a small park close to the city centre, and Hermione and Harry made their way to the old port district of the town, where the entrance to the magical quarter was located.</p><p>"Do you know where we have to go?" Harry asked as they were walking down a wide avenue leading to the harbour.</p><p>"Yeah, I think so..." Hermione muttered, looking around, trying to remember the outlay of the city from when she had travelled here with her parents a few years ago.</p><p>"Yes, the magical quarter is near the old church at the end of the seaside promenade, and the promenade should be right ahead of us. We'll turn left at the quay, and... then..."</p><p>She trailed off when she spotted a café with bright red sunshades at a street corner ahead of them. Suddenly, she could vividly remember sitting there with her parents, eating ice cream, not worrying about anything in the world. It had been the summer before her first year at Hogwarts. She had known that she was a witch by then, but her parents had done their best to pretend that they were just an ordinary family on vacation. The way they had avoided any talk about her upcoming school year or magic in general had been a bit weird – in hindsight, it had been a harbinger of what was to come – but back then, they had still been able to talk to each other. If only...</p><p>"Hermione?" Harry asked, looking at her with concern. "Are you all right?"</p><p>"I... It's nothing," she assured him, her voice hitching slightly. "It's- it's nothing! I'm all right!"</p><p>Harry didn't look convinced and stepped closer, gently laying an arm around her shoulders.</p><p>"What is it?" he asked again.</p><p>"I just... remembered how I've been here with my parents," she told him reluctantly. "Back when I was eleven..."</p><p>"Oh..." Harry muttered, and she observed how his face fell, his expression changing from understanding to sadness to guilt in the course of a few seconds.</p><p>Internally, she chided herself for losing her countenance like that. Why did she get that upset? The rift between her and her parents was anything but a new development. She thought she had gotten used to it by now. And now she was causing Harry pain, as he clearly blamed himself once again for what was happening.</p><p>"Harry, please listen to me!" she implored him, enveloping him a tight hug. "It's not that I'm sad about leaving them. I... It isn't as if I miss them now. What I miss... What I miss is how things were back then. But that... I won't get that back... not even if I had stayed in Britain."</p><p>Harry nodded slowly, and she hoped that she was getting through to him.</p><p>"It's all right, really!" she assured him once more. "I don't know what came over me. I just... I just remembered how it used to be, you know? I just wish things had been different... That they had been more accepting of me..."</p><p>"Yeah," Harry sighed and gently returned her hug. "I think I get it..."</p><p>For a minute, they remained where they stood, each taking comfort from the embrace.</p><p>"You could write to them, you know?" Harry suggested after a while. "Or maybe even call them?"</p><p>"Yes... I might do that eventually," she replied. "But not right now. If we talk, we'd just be shouting at each other again. It wouldn't do any good. But I'll let them know that I'm all right eventually..."</p><p>Harry nodded in acceptance, and Hermione took a deep breath and let go of him, stepping apart from him again.</p><p>"While we're on it, maybe we could also think about how to contact Sirius," Harry pondered as they resumed walking to the waterside and turned left on the seaside promenade.</p><p>"Maybe we can rent an owl at an Owl Post office?" Hermione suggested. "Though I don't know if the owls could get tracked. Sirius might learn what country we're in that way..."</p><p>"I don't think he would try to track an owl that delivers him a letter," Harry remarked. "And the owl would only drop off the letter and leave right away. I don't even know <em>if</em> owls can be tracked... But Sirius wouldn't do it, anyway, I think."</p><p>"Okay, yes, it should be safe," Hermione admitted. "And we'd be changing locations anyway. Maybe you can write to him for Christmas?"</p><p>"Hm... yeah, that would be neat," Harry agreed with a nod, and they walked in content silence for a while, holding hands and lazily strolling down the promenade along busy piers.</p><p>Half a mile before they reached the entrance to the magical quarter, they quickly stepped into a quiet side alley to take care of their disguise. As they were going to go into a magical area for the first time, they had to be more careful than during their previous shopping trips in the muggle world. Hermione and Harry both took a good dose of Ageing Potion and put on dark sunglasses. They had already charmed their hair colour into a dark blond before they had left their camp, and a cap covered Harry's scar.</p><p>They looked like a couple in their thirties after their transformation, and with the sunglasses even Harry's distinctively coloured eyes were hidden from view. All in all, Hermione deemed it entirely impossible for anyone to identify them like that.</p><p>"All right, let's go, then," she said happily and took Harry's hand. "Let's visit Magical France!"</p><p>They walked on and soon arrived at their destination. The magical quarter of Marseilles was located in the oldest part of the city in a side alley next to an old medieval church. Hermione and Harry turned into a side alley that looked like a narrow, littered dead end, but the wall at the head of the street opened into a wide archway as they approached it – similar to the gateway to Diagon Alley, except that the archway opened just by magicals approaching it.</p><p>The small street behind the archway was even more cramped than Diagon Alley, and the buildings looked much older, too. Hermione recalled what she had read about it during their research for their travels and thought that she wouldn't be surprised if the ancient-looking houses built of bright stone were over two thousand years old.</p><p>"This is the oldest magical quarter in France, and one of the oldest in Europe," she shared what she remembered about it. "It was founded by the Greeks, even before the Romans settled here. Just like the muggle part of the city."</p><p>Harry nodded absent-mindedly as they entered the alley, his head swivelling left and right to take in the offerings of the various shops that displayed their wares in the narrow arcades on either side of the busy street.</p><p>"I guess we'll-" Harry began, but she cut him off.</p><p>"Look, a bookshop!" she pointed out excitedly, pacing up immediately. "Let's- What is it?"</p><p>She gave her boyfriend a questioning look when he halted, pulling her back as they were still holding hands.</p><p>"As I was saying," he said, an amused expression on his face. "I guess we'll have to exchange some money first?"</p><p>"Oh! Right..." Hermione muttered, a bit embarrassed for having forgotten such an important detail. The price tags in the showcases all around them were indeed in French Bezants instead of British Galleons.</p><p>"Yeah, let's find a place to get some money first," she agreed grudgingly, giving the bookshop a sad look as they passed it.</p><p>Lucky, they found a small banking office only a few houses further down the alley.</p><p>Hermione steeled herself before they entered the bank, but she was surprised by what they found inside. Behind the lone counter in the small office sat no rude goblin or cut-throat banker, but a friendly-looking old witch, who greeted them with a warm smile.</p><p>The woman hardly spoke any English, but she treated them very pleasantly nonetheless as they exchanged their money. In the end, they got one hundred and ninety Bezants for two hundred Galleons, and Hermione was pleasantly surprised once more. Judging by the prices of the goods in the shops they had passed, Hermione estimated that the value of the coins was similar, so she thought that they had gotten a good exchange rate.</p><p>"You know..." she pondered when she and Harry stepped into the alley again. "At some point, you should maybe think about exchanging more money. Maybe you could even exchange most of your Galleons into Pounds or other muggle currencies..."</p><p>She hadn't enquired about it now, but she wondered if they would get better exchange rates for that in France, too, compared to the rates of Gringotts in Britain.</p><p>"I mean, you have enough money to even buy some nice place to live once you want to settle down," she continued. "Especially if you get a better exchange rate than at Gringotts. And... one day, you could maybe also open an account in the muggle world, invest some of your money, and get a good interest rate on it... You'd have to worry much less about money afterwards."</p><p>"Huh... All right," Harry said, nodding uncertainly. "I guess we can keep it in mind..."</p><p>"And... also..." he added, giving her a small smile. "It's <em>we</em>, Hermione. <em>We</em> wouldn't have to worry much about money afterwards. I'm happy to share it with you..."</p><p>"I... Thank you, Harry," Hermione said with a soft sigh, looking at him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. It was sweet of him saying these things, and she could feel her cheeks warming at the implications of his statement, but she didn't think he really realised what he was saying. That he was almost proposing to her, when they were only fourteen and fifteen, hadn't even been together for two weeks yet, and hadn't done anything physically beyond exchanging some heated kisses even when they were sharing a bed...</p><p>Hermione felt her blush deepen, and she quickly decided to put the matter out of her mind and not press Harry any further on his statement. She was almost glad when he distracted her only moments later.</p><p>"Oh, and, speaking of which..." he said excitedly and pulled her hand, turning left and approaching a small shop to their side.</p><p>Hermione groaned when she spotted the brooms, broom care equipment, and Quidditch supplies in the shop window.</p><p>Resignedly, she followed Harry as he entered the store and purposefully strode to the displayed brooms. A young man greeted them inside, but like so often, they couldn't really communicate with the French-speaking clerk. It didn't matter much, though, as Harry recognised all the offered brooms and didn't need any advice. He knew exactly what broom he wanted to get for her, and despite her protests, he bought Hermione a Cleansweep Six, a comfortable travel broom that didn't go very fast and was easy to steer.</p><p>"Thank you, Harry," she told him softly as they left the store. She had given up on telling him that the gift wasn't necessary, and she would have been lying if she said she didn't appreciate the gesture. "Just don't make a habit out of it, okay? That's all the money we'll spend on things for me for some time, all right?"</p><p>"So we won't buy any more books, you mean?" Harry asked with a smirk.</p><p>"Well, I mean, the books are for both of us," she quickly backpedalled. "And they'd technically still belong to you. And we need them to make things easier for us, and for our education. This is really about investing in our own future! We don't-"</p><p>"It's all right," Harry laughed, and Hermione blushed when she realised she had been rambling.</p><p>"You did that on purpose!" she yelled, glaring at him, but she could tell that her reaction only amused him further.</p><p>"Maybe... I'm sorry," he said between chuckles. "We can get the books now, don't worry."</p><p>She huffed and increased her pace for the short walk to the bookshop near the entrance of the alley, but as she didn't let go of his hand, she knew that Harry could tell that she wasn't really angry at him.</p><p>They soon entered the small bookshop and Hermione immediately made a beeline to the high shelves containing many interesting-looking tomes. However, her enthusiasm soon abated when she didn't spot a single English book in the entire store – a fact that really wasn't all that surprising, she chided herself. But unfortunately, her and Harry's French wasn't good enough yet to read books in the language, least of all spell books with more complicated instructions. Thus, their planned book shopping spree came to an abrupt end before it had even started.</p><p>"I don't think we'll find anything for us here," she reluctantly told Harry after a while. "They don't have books in English."</p><p>"Yeah, I haven't seen anything either," Harry remarked, turning his head away from the shelves. "Well, that's too bad... But maybe they have international newspapers at least?"</p><p>He pointed to the counter of the shop that was manned by a stocky old wizard, who had watched them curiously the entire time. Several issues of French newspapers and magazines were displayed before and behind the counter.</p><p>"Yeah, let's try that, at least," Hermione agreed with her boyfriend, and they approached the clerk.</p><p>"Excuse me, sir, do you have any newspapers in English?" she asked, speaking with a fake American accent just to further their disguise. Though she didn't know if the Frenchman would actually be able to tell the difference between British and American English.</p><p>The old man only looked at her uncomprehendingly. "Pardon?"</p><p>"English? Uhm... anglais... nouveau papier?" she asked, pointing towards the displayed newspapers.</p><p>The wizard cocked his head. "Vous cherchez des journaux en anglais?" he asked after a pause, speaking in quick French.</p><p>"Uhm... Oui?" Hermione guessed.</p><p>The man nodded and bent below the counter, rummaging around in his stores. Half a minute later, he resurfaced and laid out several copies of the Daily Prophet on the counter. The dates at the top of the front-page were all from a different day of the last week.</p><p>"Quelle édition souhaitez-vous?" the man said.</p><p>"Uh... tout?" Hermione replied, gesturing over all the copies, hoping the man had asked her what issues of the Prophet she wanted to buy.</p><p>The clerk nodded and handed her the entire stack of newspapers.</p><p>"Voilà, Mademoiselle."</p><p>"Merci," Hermione replied and put the newspapers in her handbag without really looking at them. They would do that later in the tent.</p><p>"Puis-je faire autre chose pour vous aider?" the clerk said then.</p><p>"Uhh..." Hermione exchanged a quick look with Harry, who only shrugged back at her, neither having any idea what the man had said.</p><p>"Um... merci?" Hermione replied again.</p><p>"Très bien," the clerk chuckled. "Cela fait cinq mornilles, s'il vous plaît."</p><p>Hermione guessed the man had told her the price of the newspapers and handed him a golden Bezant, hoping it would be enough. Apparently, it was, as the man gave her a handful of silver coins in return.</p><p>She briefly wondered if she should ask the clerk whether the shop had any English books in store, but she decided that it would be futile. She had hardly managed to buy some newspapers and wouldn't be able to make herself understood to find books on topics that were of interest to her and Harry.</p><p>"Merci, and... au revoir," Hermione said as she and Harry left the shop.</p><p>"Well... I guess we'll have to look elsewhere for the books," she concluded with a heavy sigh as they stepped back into the alley.</p><p>"I'm sure we'll find something eventually," Harry tried to assure her. "Or we just keep practising our French and then read the French books..."</p><p>"Yeah, maybe," she replied. "It might already help if we could just talk to the clerks."</p><p>"Right," he said. "Well, should we go back now?"</p><p>"Yeah, let's go back," she agreed, and they stepped into a corner behind some arcades out of sight of any passers-by, where Harry pulled out his Firebolt and his Invisibility Cloak from his enchanted backpack. They took off into the sky right there in the alley and ascended over the rooftops of Marseilles. The Firebolt quickly took up speed, and Harry swerved around, steering the broom along the coastline back to their secluded camp in the hills to the east of the city.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>They landed in front of the tent a short while later and returned inside. After they had both taken the antidote to the Ageing Potion and looked like themselves again, Hermione and Harry sat down on the couch, eager to read what the Prophet was reporting on the happenings in Britain.</p><p>Hermione pulled the stack of newspapers out of her enchanted handbag and flipped through the issues to look for the reports on the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.</p><p>"Ah, this is from Wednesday, the day after the task," she said and pulled the paper from the stack. She folded it out on the couch table, and she and Harry leaned forward and began reading.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <strong>DISASTROUS START TO TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT</strong> </em>
  <br/>
  <em> <strong>By Andy Smudgley</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yesterday, the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament took place at Hogwarts, and it became a major disappointment for everyone hoping for a successful start of the competition. The tournament was supposed to be a friendly contest between Europe's major magical schools and an amicable event promoting international cooperation, but with yesterday's first task, it became a disgrace for Hogwarts and the British Ministry that left one Hogwarts Champion badly injured and the other missing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The event started out with the sad announcement that the surprising second Hogwarts Champion, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had fled the school in the early morning prior to the first task. Young Mr Potter, who had somehow tricked the Goblet of Fire into selecting him as a fourth champion, apparently got afraid of what awaited him in the tournament and decided to run away. The consequences for Mr Potter for his breach of the binding magical contract that obliges all selected champions to compete are not yet known. The Prophet will continue reporting on the story as it develops.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>After that first let-down, it was revealed that for the first task of the tournament, the champions had to obtain a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon. The Ministry had secured four dragons of different breeds, of which three were ultimately used in the event that was missing one of its champions. The representatives of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, Star Seeker Viktor Krum and Miss Fleur Delacour, were able to obtain their golden eggs without major difficulties. It was when Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory faced off against the last dragon, the infamous Hungarian Horntail, that the day's contest came to an inglorious end.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mr Diggory was unable to distract the Horntail with a transfigured dog and got blasted by the dragon's flames. He got transported to Saint Mungo's Hospital immediately, where he currently remains. According to a statement made by his healers, Mr Diggory is in stable condition but will have to remain in the hospital for at least three more weeks while his extensive burns are healed. He is expected to recover to full health, albeit extensive scarring is expected to remain.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I guess it could have been worse," Hermione muttered, looking at the picture that was included on the front page.</p><p>It was a photograph of the Horntail in the arena, and she shuddered at the sight of the monstrous beast. Once more, she was just glad that Harry had escaped from competing in the tournament. The moving picture showed the dragon roaring at Cedric as the boy entered the enclosure of the arena, but thankfully, the dragon's attack was not shown on the picture. She was almost surprised that the Prophet had apparently enough sense to not show that to its readers.</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry mumbled in reply, shaking his head slightly. "It sounds as if he'll recover until the second task... Though I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing now..."</p><p>"Well, I'm just glad it wasn't you," she concluded and leaned forward again to read on and find out more about the consequences of the happenings.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>In a statement made to this reporter, Cedric Diggory's father, Ministry employee Amos Diggory, accuses the participating schools and the British Ministry of having neglected the safety of the champions and calls upon all the tournament judges to resign from their posts.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>In the meantime, Durmstrang Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, put forward a joint statement in which they blamed their fellow tournament judge Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, for the lack of sufficient magical protections for the champions. They claim that it had been Mr Bagman's responsibility to set up protections for the competitors.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Headmistress Olympe Maxime of Beauxbatons, the other judges of the tournament, were not available for comments, but their silence does not help the former Star Beater Bagman.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>In response to the raised allegations, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge announced that Mr Bagman would step down in his role as Ministry Department Head effective immediately. The Minister also decreed that an independent investigation headed by Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge will look further into the event surrounding the tournament. It is yet unclear whether Mr Crouch and the three school headmasters will also be under investigation over the following months. However, pending the outcome of that investigation, all tournament judges will remain in their current function for the Triwizard Tournament.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Huh..." Hermione muttered with a frown as she reached the end of the article. "I guess it's good that there are at least <em>some</em> consequences, but..."</p><p>"You reckon they've thrown Bagman under the bus?" Harry asked.</p><p>"Yeah, pretty much," she agreed. "Though I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens at the end of this<em> independent investigation</em>..."</p><p>"I can't see the Ministry doing a fair investigation..." her boyfriend commented.</p><p>"No, me neither," Hermione snorted. "But if that's good or bad, I don't know. It might make Dumbledore's life more difficult, at least. That'd serve him right, and it'd distract him from searching for us."</p><p>"There's that," Harry agreed with a nod. "That might be true."</p><p>"I'm also surprised how little there was on you in the article," she remarked and glanced over the paper again. "Only three or four sentences."</p><p>"Yeah..." he replied and leaned forward, rummaging through the stack of newspapers. A moment later, he huffed and pulled out the lowest paper from the pile.</p><p>"But I think they're talking about me in this one," he said sardonically as laid it out on the table.</p><p>Hermione felt her ire rise when she saw the headline.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <strong>THE COWARD WHO FLED</strong> </em>
  <br/>
  <em> <strong>By Rita Skeeter</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>After the appalling events surrounding the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament on Tuesday, more shocking truths come to light about the mysterious disappearance of the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter. As this paper has reported before, Harry illegally cheated himself into the prestigious Triwizard Tournament, only to then put his tail between his legs and run away before the First Task.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This reporter set out to investigate what had happened and was able to question Harry's classmates at Hogwarts. Many students who only knew the Boy Who Lived in passing expressed their disappointment over Harry's cowardice as well as over his attempts to garner more attention to himself by breaking the rules of the tournament. However, some students were even now in denial about the actions of their childhood hero. "Harry would never leave. He's the bravest boy in the school," a distressed young boy who shall remain anonymous told this reporter.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But those who knew him better are much less surprised by young Harry's actions. Harry's good friend Draco Malfoy had this to say about his classmate: "Potter has always been a coward, we all knew that. Those who know him well aren't surprised in the least that he decided to run away. He just didn't have what it takes to be a Champion."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When even his friends are not able to deny this sad truth about the hero of so many of our children, this reporter fears that it is time to re-evaluate the picture we all had of the Boy Who Lived. No one will be able to deny any longer that the Boy Who Lived To Run Away has turned out to be a coward and a cheat, much to all our disappointment. Yet this reporter has discovered even more shocking truths about our former hero.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It is another sordid detail of Harry's disappearance that the boy left the school together with his classmate and long-time girlfriend Hermione Granger. Whether she left with him willingly or under duress is not known at this time. One does not want to imagine what disgusting acts the two teenagers might be engaged in at this time, and one can only hope that Miss Granger will be able to protect her virtue against our disgraced hero's untoward advances.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This reporter has also learnt that the Craven Champion violently assaulted several Hogwarts Professors as he ran away from school. One such altercation even took place in a Muggle village, when Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall cornered the fleeing students and was subdued by Harry after a lengthy duel. The Coward Who Fled thus broke the ban of underage magic as well as the Statute of Secrecy, endangering all our lives by exposing the magical world to the Muggles.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It is yet unclear what the school or the Ministry will do to search for the two underage fugitives, though rumour has it that Headmaster Dumbledore has sent his long-time friend Alastor Moody to search for the missing students. The former Auror and current Hogwarts Defence Professor left his teaching post on the day of Harry's disappearance without any further announcements having been made by the school.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A tired Headmaster Dumbledore only gave the Prophet the following statement: "I regret that Mr Potter decided to leave the safety of Hogwarts and implore him to return to the school before he gets himself or Miss Granger hurt with his foolhardy actions."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How Harry is supposed to return to Hogwarts, however, is anyone's guess, after he has violated his binding magical contract with the Goblet of Fire and has presumably become a Squib. Mr Dumbledore was not available for further comments. In either case, with all of Magical Britain on the lookout for the wayward children, it seems certain that Harry and Miss Granger will soon be found and returned to the custody of their guardians. This reporter for one is calling upon the Ministry to ensure that Harry is accordingly punished for his violent outbursts and the pain and distress he has caused so many people with his rash actions.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I hadn't expected them to sing your praises, but this..." Hermione fumed and pushed the offending newspaper away from her. "This is... It- it's-"</p><p>"It's utter rubbish," Harry said dryly. "Yeah..."</p><p>"And they're wondering why we left!" she exclaimed, gesticulating angrily. "And I can't believe what Dumbledore said! Safety of Hogwarts! Safety my arse! Everything that has happened in the past years aside, they still wanted you to fight a bloody dragon!"</p><p>"Yeah..." Harry sighed.</p><p>"And who does this Skeeter woman think she is?" Hermione ranted on. "Calling you a coward! I'd like to see <em>her</em> fighting a dragon!"</p><p>"Hey," Harry said soothingly, putting his arm around her shoulders. "It doesn't matter, right? They can say whatever they want."</p><p>"Yeah," she muttered, exhaling deeply. "I just- No, you're right, it doesn't matter..."</p><p>"What do you think of this part about Moody?" Harry asked, changing the topic. "Do you think he's really looking for us?"</p><p>"Maybe," she replied with a shrug. "It would make sense. Dumbledore might have sent people to search for us."</p><p>"But it shouldn't matter, should it?"</p><p>"No, they wouldn't know where to even begin looking for us," Hermione said confidently. "They don't even know in what country we are..."</p><p>She grinned at Harry. "Maybe he even sent Moody to Australia..."</p><p>"Australia?" he repeated, his lips quirking upward.</p><p>"Oh, I never told you!" she realised. "In my letter to Ginny, I wrote that we would go to Australia. I'm sure Dumbledore read the letter, so he might have sent someone there to look for us."</p><p>"Oh, that's great!" Harry laughed out loud. "Australia... brilliant!"</p><p>"Yeah," she chuckled, but soon became more serious again. "Still, it will probably be best for us to keep moving, just in case someone identifies us by chance in some town or so."</p><p>"Sure. I mean, wouldn't we want to do that anyway?" Harry remarked. "Just to see different places."</p><p>"That's right," she agreed. "So, where would you like to go next?"</p><p>"Uhm... I'm not sure," he said, giving her an uncertain shrug. "What about you?"</p><p>"Maybe we could go further south? Maybe Spain or Italy?" she mused. "It's getting cold even here. Though... a white Christmas would also be nice..."</p><p>"Hmhm... Our tent can handle low temperatures, right?" Harry replied. "It sure handled the weather in northern France well."</p><p>"Yeah..." Hermione said hesitantly. "But we'd have to go northeast into the German Magical Confederation for that, or cross it at least, and we can't do magic there because of the restrictions..."</p><p>"Right..." Harry nodded. "Things would be more difficult for us there."</p><p>"The safest course of action would probably be to keep travelling in Southern Europe," she concluded. "Maybe we could just go further south along the Mediterranean coast."</p><p>"All right, that sounds good, too," her boyfriend said. "So, that means we continue travelling to either Spain or Italy?"</p><p>"Yes... How about visiting Rome for Christmas?" she suggested. "I've never been there before, and it has a large magical quarter, too. And we could make stops in Nice and in some towns in northern Italy along the way... Genoa, Florence, Pisa, maybe even Venice."</p><p>"Sounds lovely," Harry agreed with a bright smile. "So we leave here tomorrow?"</p><p>She nodded happily, excited for their new travel plans.</p><p>"Yeah, let's move on tomorrow then."</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Once again, thank you to my alpha and beta readers Proton6 and amidland for their help with this story.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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